OIC Secretary General honored with the UNDP 2007 South-South Cooperation Award for Innovation

Date: 20/12/2007

The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu was today honoured with the prestigious 2007 South-South Cooperation Award for Innovation. The annual award was part of the celebrations of the 4th UN Day for South-South Cooperation, held at the UN Headquarters in New York and organized by the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SSCU). The Islamic Solidarity Fund, an OIC subsidiary organ, was selected by a distinguished panel of judges for the annual award for its innovatory role in transforming, empowering, mobilizing and expanding the South-South agenda by increasing human and financial resources to meet the Millennium Development Goals in the South. The award was the first ever recognition of an OIC institution by the UN system. Accepting the award, Professor Ihsanoglu stated that the world was currently witnessing the expansion of innovative and indigenous Southern development mechanisms and institutions. As a purely Southern inter-governmental organization that was second in size only to the United Nations, the OIC would work to further advance the objectives of the SSCU to promote, coordinate and support South-South and triangular cooperation on a global basis. The Secretary General expressed his pleasure that the OIC was among a distinguished group of awardees that also included the Nobel Prize winning Grameen Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development and the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund.. The receipt of such an award would serve as a source of great encouragement to the organization and Professor Ihsanoglu duly acknowledged the role of the OIC Member States in contributing generously to make the ISF a reality. He expressed his hope that the event would serve as a good beginning to further deepen OIC ties with the South-South Cooperation Unit and the broader UN system. Prior to the awards ceremony, the OIC Secretary General also addressed the gathering as a keynote speaker, where he highlighted the historical role of the OIC in the advancement of South-South cooperation stretching back to the mid-seventies. A presentation was also made by the OIC’s Department for International Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs (ICHAD) on the Islamic Solidarity Fund. As part of his visit to the UN Headquarters from 18-19 December, the OIC Secretary General also held meetings with several high level UN officials including Mr. Ibrahim Gambari, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General and Ms. Ann Veneman, the Executive Director of UNICEF on issues of mutual interest. The Chairman of the OIC Group to the UN also called on the OIC Secretary General to discuss matters of common concern to the OIC in addition to updating HE the Secretary General on current initiatives being undertaken by the group in New York.

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