OIC’s rescue mission

Muslim nations bloc urges the world to help 38 million Afghans, establishes fund

Pakistan finally managed to bring Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis to the global center stage by hosting the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad on December 19.

The extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers not just successfully highlighted the plight of Afghans, but it also dispelled the hostile propaganda that Islamabad had increasingly been isolated in the international arena.

The initiative remains timely against the backdrop of the crisis-situation in Afghanistan following the swift takeover of Kabul by the Taliban and the subsequent resource-crisis faced by this war-ravaged country.

Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis aggravated as the United States froze Kabul’s $9.5 billion worth of foreign exchange reserves. Moreover, the US-led western bloc imposed several sanctions that blocked even relief and humanitarian aid for the Afghans.

The 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers highlighted this very crisis, which impacts the region as well as the world at large. The session — attended by more than 30 Foreign Ministers and Deputy Foreign Ministers from the OIC Member States – also welcomed representatives and delegates from the United States, China, Russia, the European Union P-5, Germany, Japan, Italy, United Nations, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), World bank, GCC, ECO, Arab League, besides the Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Ameer Khan Muttaqi, who headed an eight-member delegation.

The meeting was the largest in Afghanistan following the collapse of the US-backed Kabul regime and the swift seizure of power by the Taliban in August.

But will the world go beyond off ering lip-service to mitigate the brewing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan? Will the Western bloc and the Muslim countries be able to rise above their own interest and extend a sincere helping hand to the people of Afghanistan?

These are fundamental questions as most countries, including the old-rich Muslim countries, appear reluctant to take any decision on Afghanistan without a nod from the United States and its western allies.

The lackluster financial assistance pledges from member states in the OIC session were indicative of this trend. Analysts say that the indifference of the member states, mainly Arab countries, toward aid pledges was because they want to move in tandem with the US and its allies in Afghanistan.

However, it was heartening to see that the OIC session came up with a unanimous resolution, demanding immediate restoration of Afghanistan’s banking channel so that the humanitarian aid could fl ow to the Afghans, who face acute shortages of food and of other life-saving supplies amidst their country’s harsh cold winter.

At the conclusion of the extraordinary session, the forum urged the world to set aside their issues with the Taliban government for the time being and extend a helping hand to save the 38 million Afghans, who are facing hunger and famine.

“The biggest takeaways from the OIC session are the broad consensus on the urgency in providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, the global recognition of Pakistan’s proactive role in supporting our Afghan brethren and a tangible roadmap to achieve this,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told Bol News.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffi ths, who represented the Secretary General at the conference also expressed serious concerns over the gravity of the situation and called for swift action to save the country from an imminent economic meltdown.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, too, remained active during the conference, and besides addressing at one of the sessions, he held a series of meetings with the visiting foreign ministers of Islamic States at the sidelines of this mega-event.

In his keynote address, the Prime Minister underscored the critical importance of immediate action to help the people of Afghanistan, cautioning that lest the international community acts now, Afghanistan could become the largest man-made humanitarian crisis in the world. ‘Chaos in Afghanistan is in no one’s interest,’ he said.

In another important development, the OIC session also decided to set up a humanitarian Trust Fund and Food Security Programme for the people of Afghanistan. OIC’s Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Aff airs Ambassador Tarig Ali Bakheet was appointed as special envoy of the OIC Secretary General for Afghanistan to look after these relief activities. He would also coordinate with the UN and other international bodies for an effi cient delivery of relief goods.

“Regarding the sustained support to the people of Afghanistan, we should bear in mind that this is an incremental process – the first step was the creation of a vehicle – the Humanitarian Trust Fund – as a platform to channel support to the Afghan people,” says Bakheet. “I speak specifi cally to the United States that they must disentangle the Afghan government from the 38 million Afghan citizens, even if they have beenat odds with the Taliban for two decades.”

Shah Mahmood Qureshi proposed a six-point framework for the OIC to deal with the crisis, including creation of a fi nancial vehicle for channeling aid, increasing investment in people of Afghanistan, facilitating Afghanistan’s access to legitimate banking services and easing the liquidity challenge there. He also called for enhancing security, building capacity of Afghan institutions in countering terrorism and combating narcotics trade and engaging with the Taliban on world’s expectations.

The joint communique issued at the end of the OIC meeting said that the Humanitarian Trust Fund and Food Security Programme would be managed by the Islamic Development Bank and the channel would be made operational by March next year.

The IDB would collaborate with the United Nations and other international partners and act as the channel for delivery of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

The moot also called for unfreezing Afghanistan’s financial resources held by the United States and called for the lifting of sanctions to allow the revival of banking services of the country, paving the way for the swift delivery of assistance to the people.

Former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, when contacted, said that he expected bigger pledges from the member states, particularly the Arab countries, expressing hopes that once the banking services get restored more fi nancial aid would come for the Afghan people. He, however, was not optimistic about the west lifting complete sanctions on Afghanistan, saying that initially the corridor for provision of food, medicines and other daily use necessities would likely be opened.

Former AJK President Masood Khan said that the OIC moot had brought the Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis at the center-stage and demonstrated Pakistan’s convening power for which it deserved wellearned approbation. So did Saudi Arabia for taking the initiative, he said.

The OIC will take heart from another development in Washington recently where some 30 US lawmakers wrote a letter addressed to the US secretaries of state and treasury, asking them to help rebuild Afghanistan’s failing economy and unfreeze Kabul’s foreign exchange reserves.

The letter includes four proposals; releasing frozen Afghan assets of more than $9billion to an appropriate UN agency, expanding sanction exemptions from international organizations dealing with Afghanistan, assisting multilateral organizations to pay salaries of essential workers and allow international financial institutions to inject necessary economic capital into Afghanistan to stave off the economic meltdown.