Pakistan has successfully hosted the Council of Foreign Ministers’ Conference of OIC countries to highlight the dire need for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan on 19 December 2021. The conference was also attended by the P5 countries and other relevant multilateral organizations. Success of the conference has been lauded at regional as well as at International levels. The event has emerged as a major success and has brought world’s attention to the plight of the people of Afghanistan and pledged to help them.
The success of the conference can be measured from the fact that Pakistan’s voice and narrative on addressing Afghan Humanitarian crisis has been adopted at international level and important actors are now taking practical steps to address the situation.
Pakistan has been at forefront to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghan brethren and in highlighting the facts about their grave humanitarian and economic situation to the international community. Pakistan feels that world seriously needs to engage Afghanistan as a destabilized Afghanistan may cause serious humanitarian and refugee crisis not only for the region but across the world.
• Role of the spoilers has been effectively undermined through great success of the conference. Leadership and people of Pakistan are more focused than ever before to help Afghans and one can foresee better future for the people of Afghanistan as well as the region.
OIC Conference
Saudi Arabia convened OIC CFM Conference to address humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and find pathways for a humanitarian response. Pakistan offered to host the conference after Saudi Arabia’s announcement.
According to FM Qureshi, Afghanistan is a founding member of the OIC. As part of the Islamic Ummah, we are bound by fraternal bonds of amity and brotherhood with the people of Afghanistan,” he said, stressing that “today, our Afghan brothers and sisters need us more than ever before.” The objectives of the meeting were to explore “means and mechanisms” for aid delivery in coordination with UN agencies, international financial institutions, and the international community for mitigating the humanitarian crisis.
Outcome of the Conference Prime Minister Imran Khan in his key note address stressed that the US must delink the Afghanistan government from the 40 million Afghan citizens. Afghans have been suffering from perpetual war in their country for the last 4 decades.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also warned international community through OIC forum, stating that Afghanistan could potentially become the biggest “man-made crisis in the world” if it did not act now. He said no other country had suffered as much as Afghanistan, adding that even before the Taliban seized control, half of the population was below the poverty line.
Prime Minister has said that Pakistan had met its objectives of holding the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers, adding that his country’s stance on Afghanistan had now been universally recognized. In a joint 31 point resolution, the foreign ministers agreed to appoint a special envoy for extending assistance and arrange an institutional mechanism for disbursement of resources along with a trust fund and food security program in which the OIC will work with the United Nations to deliver aid. While the delegates resolved to unlock the financial and banking channels to resume liquidity and flow of financial and humanitarian assistance.
The OIC Humanitarian Trust Fund and Food Security Programme to deal with the crisis in Afghanistan will be managed by the Islamic Development Bank and will be made operational by March 2022.
Muslim World got united to stress on the importance to provide assistance to Afghans. The appointment of OIC Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian, Cultural and Social Affairs Ambassador Tariq Ali Bakheet as Special Envoy on Afghanistan is considered a positive step. He will coordinate aid and assistance efforts, and pursue economic and political engagement with Afghanistan. Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, KSA and Turkey proposed to OIC for creating a vehicle with the OIC to channel “immediate and sustained humanitarian and financial support to the Afghans, mobilize and coordinate international support through engagement with Afghan Government”. KSA also announced $265 million assistance for Afghans.
OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha highlighted the need to meet the growing challenges faced by the Afghan people.
