Tribune News Network
Doha
Pakistan will host the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers on the situation in Afghanistan, at Islamabad on 19 December 2021, a press release issued by the country’s embassy in Doha said.
This Extraordinary Session is aimed at addressing the serious and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan where according to the United Nations (UN), 60 per cent of Afghanistan’s 38 million people faced "crisis levels of hunger” with the situation getting worse every day.
The risk of acute malnutrition, especially amongst women and children, was increasing in addition to internal displacement. The advent of winter has further exacerbated the situation which if left unattended, could aggravate into the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
As part of the Islamic Ummah, member states of OIC, (of which Afghanistan is a founding member), are bound by fraternal bonds of amity and brotherhood with the people of Afghanistan. Today, more than ever before, the Afghan people need support of the international community and especially that of the OIC.
The Extraordinary Session would provide an opportunity not only to express solidarity of the Ummah with the Afghan people but also to consider practical and concrete steps to help address the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people.
Qatar played a pivotal and instrumental role for bringing peace in Afghanistan and along with Pakistan desires a peaceful, prosperous, and secure Afghanistan.
Qatar’s participation in the Session would be key in galvanising the support of the OIC Member States and the international community to extend all possible assistance to the Afghan people in this hour of dire need.