Mahmood Rafique
Members of the experts’ group meeting representing member countries of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) have called on the current Chairman of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to continue with efforts urging the international body’s member states to further speed up fulfilling their pledges to the capital of the $10 billion Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD).
The two day meeting which wrapped up discussions on Wednesday at the IDB headquarters in Jeddah, came up with a number of recommendations including establishment of a group of eminent figures to act as a high level advocacy and resource mobilization vehicle for the ISFD which will be mandated to undertake road shows for mobilizing resources for the Fund. Expressing gratitude to member countries which have already contributed to the capital of the Fund, the experts’ group urged for completion of the partly accomplished pledges as well as scaling up of the said contributions commensurate with their financial capabilities in order to speed up achievement of the noble objectives of the Fund namely; alleviating poverty and fighting illiteracy.
A key speaker of the event’s first day session was President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, who underscored the significance of the group and the role it, plays in devising recommendations for assisting the Fund to define its challenges and future prospects.
The ISFD was established by the OIC extraordinary summit held in Makkah in December 2005 and launched in 2007 with the objective to fight poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and diseases such as malaria and HIV / AIDS in IDB member countries. The fund’s target capital has been set at $10 billion of which so far $2.63 billion has been committed by member countries and the IDB.
The ISFD total approvals have thus far reached $515 million covering infrastructural, agricultural, educational, professional training and SME projects. The Fund is currently pursuing two five-year thematic programmes for micro-financing and vocational training worth a total of $ 500 million each in the course of the planned period.