THE HEADS OF THE SUBSIDIARY, SPECIALISED AND AFFILIATED ORGANS DISCUSS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OIC TEN-YEAR PROGRAMME OF ACTION

Within the framework of the implementation of the OIC Ten-year Programme of Action, adopted by the 3rd extraordinary Islamic Summit, the OIC General Secretariat organised a meeting of the heads of the OIC subsidiary, specialised and affiliated organs in order to follow up the implementation of this Programme.

The meeting was held on 4 March 2007 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the 30th Session of the Islamic Commission for Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs on. It was chaired by H.E Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the OIC, and attended by all the heads of the OIC institutions and the executive staff of the General Secretariat.

In the opening session, statements were delivered by H.E Prof Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu,Secretay General of OIC, H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the IDB Group, and some of the heads of the OIC institutions. In his statement, the Secretary General noted with satisfaction the special interest that the OIC institutions are taking in the implementation of the Ten-year Programme of Action and requested them to pursue their efforts in carrying out the implementation of the said Programme.

The participants then discussed the progress so far made in the implementation of the various areas of the Programme of Action and the planned actions for the future. During the discussion, Dr. Savas Alpay, Director General of the Centre, made two presentations under two different agenda items of the meeting as follows:

Under the agenda item “Supporting development and poverty alleviation in Africa”, Dr. Alpay briefed the meeting on the report titled “Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Situation in the OIC Member Countries” which was prepared by the Centre recently as a preliminary contribution to the special programme for the development of Africa stipulated in the Ten-year Programme of Action. He informed the meeting that this preliminary report will be complemented with a series of publications by the Centre on the same subject. Together, they will constitute a significant contribution in attaining the targets of poverty alleviation in the African OIC member countries set by the Ten-Year Programme of Action.

Under the agenda item “Action Plan for the OIC Cotton Producing Countries’ Cooperation Development Strategy (2007-2011)”, the Director General of presented the main findings of the paper titled “The Cotton Sector in the OIC Countries: Problems and Possibilities of Cooperation” which was prepared by the Centre recently. In his presentation, the Director General highlighted the importance of cotton in the OIC member countries and the challenges facing the OIC cotton producing member countries, particularly those in West and Central Africa. He informed the meeting that the paper elaborates on some possible ways of cooperation among those countries in this important sector and concludes with the recommendation of establishing an OIC Cotton Alliance among OIC cotton producers and traders to coordinate such cooperation.