The meeting of the 58th session of the Permanent Council of the Islamic Solidarity Fund of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation reviewed the current financial situation of the Fund and the projects it is executing for member states and Muslim communities in non-OIC member states. At the commencement of the meeting which was held at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah on 20 April 2014, the Secretary General of the OIC, Mr Iyad Ameen Madani, called for the mobilization of support for the ISF to overcome resources limitation in the face of growing needs, adding that many humanitarian issues were waiting for the attention of the Fund. He stated that despite the difficult "challenges of disasters and what we have done to ourselves in terms of wars and differences leading to humanitarian disasters and needs, the ISF has been able to contribute to mitigating them." The Secretary General said that the decision to establish the ISF was one of the most important decisions of the Islamic Summit in support of solidarity and joint Islamic action since the creation of the OIC. Among the noble objectives of the Fund, he said, were: mitigating effects of disasters, promoting scientific research, supporting the Muslim youth and organizing study groups. Iyad Madani called for the establishment of a work group from among members of the ISF Council and those concerned with humanitarian affairs in the OIC General Secretariat and its affiliated organs to identify projects for the ISF, unify efforts, and walk in a single direction. In his address, the Chairman of the ISF Permanent Council Ambassador Naser Bin Abdullah Al-Zoabi, remarked that since its creation in 1974, the Islamic Solidarity Fund has projected the notion of Islamic solidarity and worked to promote mutual assistance and cooperation among peoples of the Muslims Ummah through the ISF's projects scattered in 130 countries throughout the world and running into 2418 projects at a cost of US$207 million as at the end of 2013. He added that in compliance with the directives of the OIC Secretary General who followed with concern the situation in the Central African Republic caused by sectarian violence, the ISF Emergency Committee responded by providing urgent financial assistance and participated as part of the OIC delegation that undertook a field visit to the Republic of Chad. That mission resulted in the building of 275 tents supplied with water and electricity to accommodate more than 3,000 refugees.
