Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 25/11/2007
In a message read on Wednesday 21 November 2007 by Ambassador Babacar BA, Permanent Observer of the OIC to the United Nations in Geneva, Professor Ekmeleddin IHSANOGLU, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference requested the 34th Session of the FAO Conference, currently held in Rome (Italy), to consider the necessity to reinforce the capacities of FAO to fight hunger and poverty around the world. Pr.Ihsanoglu noted that, despite considerable efforts to create healthy and viable conditions for a huge number of needy people, many new phenomena have negatively affected these efforts and requested urgent and strong concerted actions to face the new challenges such as growing climate changes, natural disasters, energy supply crisis, scarcity of lands , water and sea resources. The Secretary General of the OIC called for more support to enhance the agricultural capacities of developing countries and to give them better access to the global market. He noted that the establishment of an Organization of the Islamic Conference Special Fund to combat Poverty and endemic diseases constitutes a contribution to the efforts of the OIC member states, FAO and the international community to face the situation and to pursue the Millenium Development Goals. Finally, Pr.Ihsanoglu congratulated the Director General of FAO, Dr. Jacques Diouf for his dynamism and efficiency in promoting and implementing the FAO main goals of food security and agricultural development.
