By IINA,
Jeddah : The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has commended the major achievements made during the 11th Session of the Islamic Summit Conference held in Dakar, capital of Senegal, which will bring benefit, growth and unity to the entire Islamic Ummah and consolidate the bonds of Islamic solidarity and synergy to tackle contemporary challenges. The Secretary General made these remarks at the opening of the Senior Officials meeting preparatory to the 35 Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers, held at the OIC headquarters here on Saturday.
Prof. Ihsanoglu lauded the efforts of Pakistan, Uganda and Senegal in the preparation for the 34 and 35 Sessions of the Conference of Foreign Ministers (CFM) and the 11 Session of the Islamic Summit respectively. H also called for the need to adopt a new approach in managing Joint Islamic Action within the purview of the amended OIC Charter which was adopted at the Dakar Summit. Similarly, he stressed the need to implement the provisions of the Charter resolutely, according to an OIC statement. The OIC Chief said that the meeting of Foreign Ministers of OIC Member States scheduled to take place in Kampala, capital of Uganda, will be the first of its kind to be held within the framework of the amended Charter. “This, he said, is a historic achievement and an important watershed in the annals of Joint Islamic Action aimed at raising the profile of the Islamic Ummah and promoting the Organization to the rank of the most important international organizations,” he said.
Prof. Ihsanoglu also mentioned the efforts of the General Secretariat in preparing new and detailed reports highlighting the developments that should be dealt with, in accordance with the rationalization and reform plans adopted by the Organization. The meeting addressed a number of issues on politics and Muslim minority in non-OIC Member States. Other issues discussed were legal and statutory matters, information as well as administrative and financial issues that will be considered by the Foreign Ministers at their next meeting in Kampala on June 18-20.
The meeting adopted the agenda and work program of the 35 Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers as well as the progress report on the General Secretariat’ s implementation of the Ten-Year Program of Action. The meeting elected the bureaus of the 35 Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers as follows: Chair – Republic of Uganda, Vice Chair – Iran, Palestine and Syria. Rapporteur – Pakistan. The proceedings of the preparatory meeting of Senior Officials will last three days and will be followed by the meeting of the Islamic Commission for Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs (ICECS), the OIC statement added.