The Organization of the Islamic cooperation has delivered its first tranche of its Islamic Solidarity Fund to the representatives of Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Djibouti at its General Secretariat based in Jeddah.
OIC’s Islamic Solidarity Fund, which was delivered on May 17 2020, is an initiative intended to render support to the least developed member states in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Abdulrazzaq Mohame, the ISF Project Director, delivered the financial grant at the Secretariat in the presence of Ambassador Tareq Ali Bakheet, the OIC Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian, Social and Cultural Affairs.
The ISF financial assistance is aimed at reinforcing the response of the OIC health ministries to Covid-19 by providing them with necessary medical equipment and devices in order to ensure maximum medical protection.
Among devices delivered are coronavirus detection kits and laboratory supplies, medicines, intravenous tubes, medical masks and beds for the treatment of patients with the COVID-19 infection.
Keeping in mind its objectives to address the humanitarian, health, economic, social and other Covid-19-related consequences, and to ensure availability of necessary resources needed to curtail the negative impacts of the virus, the Islamic Solidarity Fund has pledged it would continue to extend its financial assistance grant scheme to other least developed member states.
While acknowledging contributors to the Fund, the Islamic Solidarity Fund expressed profound gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the OIC host country, for their continued unwavering support and generosity.
It also appreciated the member states whose generous contributions have brought the initiative into fruition enabling the OIC to give necessary supports to the members states who most need them.
OIC’s ISF is part of efforts by Islamic Funding institutions which have over time shown great commitment to helping improve health standards in countries hard it by Covid-19 by providing health sectors with necessary medical equipment and other financial aid.
It is worth recalling that it is in the effort to cushion the adverse health, social and economic effects of Covid-19 in the OIC Member States that Development Bank Group (IsDB) launched Strategic Preparedness and Response Program worth a $2.3 to help the countries cope well with the pandemic.
