Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 14/12/2011
A delegation from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) paid a visit to the headquarters of the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah. The delegation was led by the Assistant Director of the UNHCR’s regional office in Riyadh for the Gulf States, Dr. Hamdi Bukhari, along with the official in charge of refugees’ affairs in Somalia and Kenya, Mr. Bruno Gido. Talks between the delegation and officials from the OIC General Secretariat’s Humanitarian Affairs Department centered on ways to consolidate the OIC-UNHCR Cooperation in the humanitarian sphere. Mr. Bruno briefed the OIC officials on the conditions of Somali refugees at the Dadas refugee camp in Kenya, and the conditions of refugees in general. He revealed that the UNHCR and the OIC had undertaken, for the first time, a joint interaction in which a census was taken of the displaced people driven off their homes by the effects of the prevailing famine and currently settled in (306) camps in Mogadishu, which has optimally facilitated their management and relief. Bruno further paid tribute to the OIC for opening an office for the coordination of humanitarian action in Somalia and for its well appreciated efforts in assisting the refugees and he famine victims. He likewise commended the OIC for coordinating its humanitarian action with its partners among international humanitarian organizations active in Somalia, particularly in the area of emergency relief, healthcare and social services, which cooperation resulted in the collection of (50 thousand tons) of foodstuffs that benefited (up to October 2011) over 1.500.000 people, among the displaced and the famine-stricken whose lives were at risk. Also, he noted that, amongst the positive effects of these efforts, there was the drop in foodstuff prices in the local market. Bruno, however, expressed his concern over the decision to exclude (16) of the international humanitarian organizations from Somalia, the ensuing vacuum produced in the area of relief and assistance and the adverse effect this has had on the displaced. Bruno added that there was an imperative need for consultation and joint consideration with the OIC particularly in view of its being the only organization, together with its alliance, to be currently active on the ground in terms of humanitarian action, bedsides its being so well accepted by all parties. On the other hand, Bruno expressed his worries over the potential deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Somalia as a result of the Kenyan and Ethiopian intervention, and pointed out that such intervention had combined with the famine to exacerbate the situation and cause a rise in the numbers of displaced people drifting to Kenya, from 300,000 to half a million.
