Hope aid will reach Afghans, Kabul envoy says after OIC launches humanitarian fund in Islamabad

Hope aid will reach Afghans, Kabul envoy says after OIC launches humanitarian fund in Islamabad
Acting Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, Sardar Ahmed Khan Shakib, speaks with Arab News in an exclusive interview in Islamabad, Pakistan, on January 11, 2022. (AN/File)
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Updated 22 March 2022
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Hope aid will reach Afghans, Kabul envoy says after OIC launches humanitarian fund in Islamabad

Hope aid will reach Afghans, Kabul envoy says after OIC launches humanitarian fund in Islamabad
  • Pakistan is hosting 48th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers which is also reviewing crisis in Afghanistan
  • Envoy says acting foreign minister Muttaqi could not attend conference because he was travelling abroad

ISLAMABAD: Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi could not attend this week's Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers’ meeting due to another visit abroad, the acting Afghan envoy to Pakistan said on Tuesday, adding that he hoped the signing of a charter for a humanitarian trust fund for Afghans would finally see aid channeled to those who deserved it.
More than 600 delegates from 56 member states and observer countries are participating in the 48th Organization of Islamic Cooperation's Council of Foreign Ministers being held in Islamabad on March 22-23. The theme of this year’s conference is "Partnering for Unity, Justice, and Development."
OIC countries formally launched a trust fund on Monday to help ease the humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan where millions of people face poverty and famine. The OIC and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) signed the charter for the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund at a ceremony hosted by Islamabad.




OIC Secretary-General (left) and Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank sign Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 21, 2022. (OIC/Twitter)

The decision to establish the fund was taken during an emergency OIC meeting held in Pakistan in December last year.
Acting Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Sardar Ahmed Khan Shakib said he hoped the signing of the charter for the fund would bring relief to the Afghan people.
“We hope that the signing of the charter to implement the Afghan humanitarian trust fund will lead to practical steps and aid will now actually reach the Afghan people,” the envoy told Arab News on the sidelines of the OIC conference. “We also have high hopes from Pakistan and Afghan people are looking towards them that they will stand with Afghans in this difficult time.”
When asked about the Afghan acting foreign minister’s absence from this week’s conference he said:
“The Afghan foreign minister Muttaqi could not come to Pakistan to attend the OIC conference as he is abroad on an official visit.”
Shakib did not specify where exactly Muttaqi was traveling.