APA-Banjul (The Gambia) As new chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation President Barrow is looking to spare no effort to resolve crises blighting the Muslim world.
Dialogue and action were two words which President Adama Barrow, the new chairman of the 57-member OIC used repeatedly to drill his main point home to journalists during an post-summit press conference on Sunday.
”It is time for dialogue and action” President Barrow in an answer to questions about the ongoing crisis between Israel and the Palestinians, the civil war in Yemen, the plight of the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar and hostilities in Sudan among other crises which his chairmanship of the OIC would have to grapple with for the next three years.
The Gambian leader selected his words carefully as he tried to emphasised that the antidote to any crisis starts with dialogue and the unanswered question about Palestine was no exception.
In words meant for protagonists to conflicts affecting Muslims around the world, Mr Barrow said ”Our guiding principle should be informed by the realisation that no nation can ever be comfortable and live in peace when their neighbours or other OIC member states are not at peace. We must embrace tolerance, therefore, as a core value and vehicle for sustainable peace, development, and stability.”
He said during his tenure as OIC chair, he would use the persuasive power of this office to seek effective dialogue between Israel and Palestinians to end untold human suffering and institute a two-stae solution which has eluded them for over seventy-five years.
Barrow said it was time the OIC applied a more robust, all-inclusive and action-oriented approach to addressing not only the Palestinian question but also the raging conflicts in other member countries like Sudan, where the forces of two rival generals have clashed for control of the country since last year. He said the mobilisation of resources would speeded up to tackle the growing humanitarian crises affecting the worldwide Muslim ummah resulting from either conflicts or natural disasters.
”The main approach is to take the lead, to engage stakeholders and mobilise resources” he emphasised.
”It is time for action, to move the OIC to the next level. if we are united, we will have strength and we will be respected….there were no problems bigger than the two world wars and they were resolved” he said in words that conveyed his belief that his tenure as head of the OIC would bring unprecedented changes to the fortunes of the Muslim world.
He said dialogue, and action-driven initiatives for peace, and sustainable development would help advance the substance of the summit theme.
Eight heads of state from The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Djibouti, Sierra Leone, Republic of Northern Cyprus and Sudan took part.
Important players within the OIC such as Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Ibrahim Raisi were conspicuous by their absence but were represented by foreign ministers with strong delegations to the summit.
It was the third in sub-Saharan Africa since those hosted by Senegal in 1991 and 2008.
The two-day summit under the theme ‘Enhancing Unity and Solidarity Through Dialogue For Sustainable Development’ wrapped up on Sunday, with a Banjul accord, capturing the positions of the OIC on comtemporary issues and challenges affecting its member countries.
WN/as/APA