Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha has emphasized the importance of coordinated and inclusive economic recovery strategies in the OIC Member States in the face of social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the damage from the ongoing conflicts in the various parts of the world. This came in his speech at the opening session of the 47th Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, which was held in Sharm El Sheikh, the Arab Republic of Egypt, on 2nd June, 2022. Drawing on the experiences of OIC and its relevant institutions, including IsDB Group, in supporting national development efforts, the Secretary General called for enhanced cooperation to ensure inclusive and resilient economic recovery of OIC Member States. Within this context, the Secretary General highlighted the need to support the most affected and the most vulnerable segments of the society; increase support for the 22 Least Developed OIC Member States; boost the capacity in some selected OIC Member States to produce the vaccines; and develop a program to support the rural farmers, who grow the bulk of the food in most OIC Member States. He also called upon Member States to urgently implement the OIC decisions on establishing Food Reserves as well as rolling out the OIC Programmes on strategic food commodities such as Wheat, Rice and Cassava. The Secretary General drew attention to the need to mobilize additional funds to the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development with a view to enabling the Fund to expand its activities towards alleviating poverty and improving social services and infrastructures in OIC Member States. Hissein Brahim Taha further highlighted the continued importance of the relationship between the OIC General Secretariat and IsDB Group in supporting the socio-economic development efforts of OIC Member States. The 47th Annual Meeting of the IsDB Group is considering administrative, financial and operational activities of the IsDB Group. It is also discussing challenges facing the Bank's Member States and their possible solutions.
