Mr. HisseinBrahimTaha, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), strongly condemns the continued and escalating Israeli military aggression against the Gaza Strip, persisting for twenty-three days in a row. This relentless assault has resulted in butchering thousands of martyrs and wounding innocent civilians, including women, children, medical personnel and journalists, in addition to the deliberate destruction of buildings, hospitals, schools, places of worship, and United Nations facilities. Israel still threatens to bomb hospitals, in addition to continuing to prevent access to food, medicine, water, and electricity, which constitutes collective punishment, war crimes, and flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.
The Secretary-General also affirms the OIC’s rejection and condemnation of the escalation of acts of murder, incitement, and organized terrorism committed by extremist settler groups and Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian citizens throughout the West Bank, including the occupied city of Al-Quds. These criminal acts have tragically led to the martyrdom of more than 115 Palestinian citizens since the beginning of the month. He holds Israel, the occupying power, fully responsible for the continuation of these criminal acts.
At the same time, the Secretary-General renewed his call on the international community to intervene urgently to force Israel, the occupying power, to stop its brutal aggression against the Palestinian people immediately and to oblige it to respect and implement international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, and to ensure the opening of permanent humanitarian corridors to facilitate the access of medicines and food supplies and basic needs of the Gaza Strip.
In his message to the 46th Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), H.E. Mr. HisseinBrahimTaha, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), congratulated the SESRIC on its 45th anniversary as well as impressive achievements that the Centre has recorded since its inception. The message of H.E. the Secretary-General was delivered by Dr. Ahmad KawesaSengendo, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs. The Secretary-General also used the occasion to once again congratulate the Republic of Turkiye on its 100th National Independence and wished her greater peace, development, and prosperity in the next 100 years.
The Secretary-General acknowledged that over the last 45 years, SESRIC has responded to the demand for research and training services in the various sectors, and steadily expanded the number of OIC countries benefiting from its programs. The scope of the SESRIC program of activities has also expanded to cover all pillars of the OIC’s work.
The Secretary-General also drew attention to the need to focus on specific areas that SESRIC should prioritize in its program of activities in the coming year. In this context, he highlighted the importance of fostering cooperation among the national economic research centers, increasing capacity-building activities for small-scale farmers, and developing youth employment generation programs.
The 46th Meeting of the SESRIC Board of Directors started on 30th October 2023, in Ankara, Turkiye, and it will conclude on 31st October 2023. The meeting is considering the budget and program of activities of the SESRIC for the year 2024.—PR
