African, Asian Muslim-majority countries to discuss Afghanistan in crucial meet
Monday December 13 2021
Taliban fighters check commuters along a road in Kunduz on October 10, 2021. PHOTO | AFP
African and Asian Muslim-majority states are due to gather for a crucial meeting that will see them issue a joint declaration on the situation in Afghanistan, which has been under Taliban rule since August.
The meeting, to be hosted by Afghanistan’s neighbour Pakistan next Sunday, is a gathering of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a 57-member body headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that includes African and Asian countries that see themselves as the voice of the Muslim world.
The meeting in Islamabad is of the Ministerial Council, the second highest organ of the OIC, and will discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Somalia, Uganda, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Mozambique, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Somalia, Togo, Guinea, Gambia and Mauritania are among countries from Africa expected to send delegations.
Sudan, a member of the group, is unlikely to take part as it has no government yet following the October 25 coup that toppled the transitional government of Abdalla Hamdok.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a press statement that his country supports Saudi Arabia initiative in its position as chair of the current summit of OIC.
“Afghanistan is one of the founding members of (OIC), and as part of the Islamic nation, we are committed to bonds of brotherhood and friendship with the Afghan people and which are needed more than ever before," he said.
"Afghanistan is currently undergoing a serious humanitarian situation where millions of Afghans, including women and children, are facing precarious conditions due to lack of food, medicine and other basic living supplies, and that the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has worsened with the onset of winter.”
UN warnings of a humanitarian crisis facing Afghanistan have increased recently, especially after international aid was suddenly cut off following the Taliban's seizure of power in mid-August.
Once a proscribed terrorist group, the Taliban seized power after the US and allied forces in NATO left the country in August, leaving behind chaos as civilians also attempted to flee from the probable wrath of the group.
But the Taliban are unable to access funds because the US has frozen assets owned by Afghanistan on US soil, including cash, and they face a rising humanitarian crisis and poverty.
The Taliban have also been accused of violating human rights, including barring women and girls from jobs and schools.
Observers believe urgent intervention is needed to address the economic conditions.
Sudanese economist Abu al-Gasim Ibrahim told the Nation: “After 20 years of the presence of the United States of America in Afghanistan and throughout this period, neither the American forces nor the Afghan government then succeeded in achieving good living standards for Afghan citizens in light of an Afghan economy suffering from problems and big complications.”
“(OIC’s efforts) could be seen as a way to bridge the gap in humanitarian aid”.
Established on September 25, 1969, OIC is the biggest intergovernmental organisation among Muslim countries.
Some critics, though, argue its members have often had divergent interests and are not solely focused on discussing the welfare of the Muslim community, making its voice less central.