JEDDAH: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is currently working, in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), to design a project, aims to provide humanitarian aid for the benefit of children in the respective conflict areas of Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Central African Republic.
The OIC Department of Humanitarian Affairs has collaborated with the Qatif Charity Organization in launching a project for providing education and health care for the children of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
The OIC Secretary General Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen, in a letter seen by the International Islamic News Agency (IINA), said in his speech at the tenth session of OIC’s Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights (OIC-IPHRC) held at the OIC General Secretariat headquarters in Jeddah on Tuesday, that this project is similar to the initiative taken by the OIC after the 2004 tsunami disaster. Under that initiative it was establishing an Islamic Alliance in coordination with the Islamic humanitarian organizations and OIC member states to provide humanitarian assistance to the children victims of tsunami, he added.
The secretary general said that ” the protection and promotion of children’s rights in situations of armed conflict, foreign occupation, emergencies, and disasters”, which is the theme of the current session of the Commission, comes at a time when conflicts and crises, as well as humanitarian emergencies, infringe on children’s rights and the international human rights law.
He warned that children in these circumstances might be separated from their families and be subjected to violence, mistreatment, and forced labor because of poverty, or may be forced to join armed militias.
In his statement, the Chair of IPCHR Ambassador Abdul Wahab congratulated Dr. Othaimeen on his unanimous election to the post of secretary general of the OIC. He said that the Commission has decided to address the issue of children’s rights since its first session, stressing that member states have made positive progress in the field of children’s rights, in the context of the Covenant of the Child in Islam.
The IPHRC session, which started on Sunday and will conclude Thursday, is witnessing extensive discussions on all the issues on its agenda, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the member states, and human rights violations in Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir.
The usual meetings of the four working groups on Palestine, the rights of women and children, Islamophobia and Muslim groups and communities, and the right to development are also being held to discuss and adopt the reports and studies prepared by the members of the commission.
