OIC meeting in Pakistan agrees fund to aid Afghans

(19 Dec 2021) Islamic countries scrambled on Sunday to find ways to help Afghanistan avert an imminent economic collapse they say would have a “horrendous” global impact.
The hastily called meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Islamabad ended with a promise to set up a fund to provide humanitarian aid through the Islamic Development Bank.
The fund would provide a cover for countries to donate without dealing directly with the country's Taliban rulers.
In a news conference at the end of the summit, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also described what he called good news from the United States, whose special representative on Afghanistan, Tom West, attended the summit.
He said West met with the Taliban delegation led by the interim foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on the sidelines.
Qureshi said West also said he was mandated to “engage ” with the Taliban, that U.S. humanitarian aid to Afghanistan would not carry preconditions and there could be as much as $1.2 billion available through the World Bank in money that could be released to Afghanistan.
There was no immediate response from the U.S. to Qureshi's statements.
Sunday's summit brought together dozens of foreign ministers as well as the special representatives on Afghanistan of major powers, including China, the U.S. and Russia.
It also included the U.N. undersecretary general on humanitarian affairs, and the president of the Islamic Development Bank Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, who offered several concrete financing proposals.
At the summit's conclusion Qureshi said the OIC agreed to appoint a special representative on Afghanistan.
The 20 foreign ministers and 10 deputy foreign ministers in attendance also agreed to establish a greater partnership with the United Nations to get help to desperate Afghans.
They participants also emphasized the critical need to open Afghanistan’s banking facilities, which have been largely closed since the Taliban takeover on Aug. 15.
The Taliban has limited withdrawals from the country’s banks to $200 a month.
OIC chairman Hussain Ibrahim Taha, thanked the organizers of the event saying it would have brought "new hope" to the Afghans.

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