Assaf urged Muslim countries to contribute to the $1 billion emergency fund pledged five years ago to help the Palestinian people. Al-Assaf, who chairs the Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds funds, urged IDB member states to provide additional resources to the two funds. "By June 2005, total contributions to the two funds amounted to $738 million," he told a meeting of the board of governors of the IDB, the financial arm of the OIC. The Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds Funds were established with a $1 billion pledge by the Arab League in 2000 to provide the Palestinian people with emergency aid. The funds focus on providing financial assistance for education, health care and infrastructure. Al-Assaf said that so far the two funds had approved projects and programs valued at $262 million. Joining the appeal, IDB President Ali said Palestinians needed the support of the Muslim world. "The segregation wall is devastating every aspect of Palestinian life. People have become prisoners in their own homes... and 50 percent of the people live below the poverty line," he said. --MORE 1119 Local Time 0819 GMT
