Kabul: The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) plans to enhance its cooperation with the United Nations in Afghanistan, in light of the welcoming of the International Contact Group on Afghanistan, the efforts undertaken by the OIC in Afghanistan on 18 October 2010, and after the opening of the OIC Office in Kabul to explore the implementation of a humanitarian program in the country which is affected by a civil war for more than two decades.
The OIC has already initiated implementation of humanitarian programs in cooperation with the United Nations in a number of Muslim countries, according to a plan for coordinating international efforts and redirecting them by taking advantage of the capacities of Islamic relief organizations and other humanitarian organizations that work with the OIC.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has on several occasions expressed his appreciation for the essential role played by the OIC in the issues of Darfur, Somalia, Sudan, Mauritania, and other issues on the global stage.
Well-informed sources in the OIC have confirmed the OIC's determination to strengthen partnership with the United Nations, in order to intensify efforts and give them an international dimension, in harmony with the new orientation expressed by Ban Ki-moon in his declarations at the meetings of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly in which he also stressed that "the Organization of Islamic Conference is a strategic and vital partner of the United Nations, and plays an important role in helping to solve a range of issues facing the global community."
The sources said that the OIC is seeking at the same time to increase cooperation with the UN to face-up anti-Islam wave better known as Islamophobia, by signing a plan of action with the Alliance of Civilizations Forum last May to determine the plans and joint programs between the two sides in this respect.
