Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), receives a unique self-portrait from Salih Mutlu Sen, Consul General of Turkey, in Jeddah, recently. The portrait drawn by Ismail Acar, prominent Turkish artist, embodies a symbolic tribute to Ihsanoglu’s career and is a a homage to his tireless commitment within the OIC for promotion of Islamic values and international peace, Sen said. — Photo and text by Roberta Fedele


JEDDAH — An Islamic Declaration on Sustainable Development was adopted at the 5th Islamic conference of environment ministers this week in Astana, Kazakhstan. The two-day conference held under the aegis of Karim Massimov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, was chaired by Prince Turki Bin Nasser, chief of the Saudi Presidency of Meteorology and Environment. It was attended by ministers of environment of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, high-level officials, representatives of relevant OIC institutions and international agencies and organizations.

Delivering the OIC chief’s message, Abdul Moiz Bokhari, Assistant Secretary General of OIC, underscored the centrality of sustainable development to the overall agenda of the OIC which encompass, inter alia, economic development, poverty alleviation, trade enhancement, environmental protection and health.

Referring to the OIC’s ten year program of action and the corresponding transformation in the OIC to make it more relevant to the contemporary challenges, Bokhari cited OIC efforts including the adoption of the OIC Water Vision 2025, preparation of the OIC Green Technology Blue Print and the establishment of a mechanism for regular consultations among OIC member states on environment and climate change related issues.

The sustainable development declaration reaffirms the commitment of the OIC member states to the principles and objectives adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992. It calls upon the international community to renew its efforts to meet the goals defined by the UNCED through strengthened international cooperation, more robust and effective institutional framework for sustainable development backed by the necessary financial and technical resources.

It further calls upon the developed countries to honor their financial commitments for sustainable development and take concrete steps toward debt cancellation, easy access to markets, technology transfer and capacity-building assistance. — SG