OIC Secretary General signs MOU on Cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank Group 

Within the framework of enhanced cooperation between the General Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC-GS) and the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), His Excellency Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of OIC and Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Ali, President of the IDB Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation and Coordination framework between the General Secretariat of the OIC and the Islamic Development Bank Group on 18th May 2010, during the 37th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers currently underway in Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan..

The MOU will enable the two OIC institutions to collaborate and set-up a mutual mechanism for coordination and support for the implementation of their various programmes and projects, in the domain poverty alleviation, post conflict and emergency responses.

The MOU also sets up an institutional mechanism that will organize, review, execute and monitor the implementation of the various joint programmes and projects between the two bodies.

This initiative is aimed at advancing the burgeoning partnership between the two institutions and promoting effective and coordinated implementation of the various socio-economic programmes within the framework of the OIC Ten-year Programme of Action and the IDB Vision 2020 and for the overall benefit of the peoples of the Muslim Ummah.

OIC-US Health Dialogue 

The Secretary General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services of the United States of America jointly hosted a Health Dialogue with Ministers of Health from the OIC Member States participating in the World Health Assembly on Monday, 17 May 2010 in Geneva in line with the provisions of the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action and President Barack Obama’s address to Muslim World in Cairo on 4 June 2009.

The Health Dialogue discussed areas of mutual interest and proposed concrete steps to improve health situation in the OIC countries particularly to deepen collaboration on polio eradication, broaden cooperation to reduce maternal and child mortality and expand cooperation in immunization and disease surveillance.

The Ministers of Health were briefed by a panel comprising the Minister of Health of the Republic of Senegal in capacity of the Chairman of the OIC Summit and the Director General of the Department of Science and Technology representing the OIC Secretary General; the US Secretary of Health and Human Services and the US Special Envoy to the OIC.

The Ministers of Health of the OIC Member States welcomed the initiative of the OIC General Secretariat and the US Government to organize the Dialogue. In their intervention, the Ministers highlighted the need to strengthen production of polio vaccine in OIC region, to hold meetings among partners and polio affected countries to share good practices in engaging religious and community leaders to advocate polio immunization campaigns.

The Ministers expressed their concerned that the relevant Millennium Development Goals related to reduction of mother and child mortality have not been making good progress. Several member states indicated the success of their bilateral cooperation with the US Government in health sector that assisted them to eradicate polio and address maternal and child mortality. It was proposed to replicate these successful approaches in other OIC countries.

The US Secretary of Health and Human Services pledged to continue cooperation in the eradication of polio and to expedite implementation of the cooperative project on mother and child health in the OIC Member States. The Ministers thanked the OIC General Secretariat and the US Special Envoy to the OIC in taking leadership in health cooperation and confirm their readiness to engage fully in the joint efforts.