Zainab Bangura, Sierra Leone’s Foreign and International Cooperation Minister(pictured) is to join over 50 of her counterparts in Dushanbe, capital of the Republic of Tajikistan, to attend the Thirty-seventh session of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) from 18 to 20 May 2010.
The President of the host country, H.E. Emomali Rahmon, is also expected to grace the opening ceremony of the conference where he would deliver a key note address.
According to a statement issued in Saudi Arabia by the OIC secretariat, "this year’s theme:" Joint Vision for Greater Security and Prosperity for the Muslim World,” the OIC Foreign Ministers will equally discuss a number of dossiers, notably the situation in Iraq, Jammu and Kashmir, the situation in Somalia and Afghanistan, solidarity with the Republic of the Sudan, the situation in Cyprus and Kosovo and the OIC future role in maintaining security and keeping peace as well as resolving conflicts in the Member States",
In the economic sphere, the statement added, discussions will dwell on economic and trade cooperation and the ways of boosting trade exchange up to 20 per cent by 2015 in line with the target set by the OIC Ten-Year Program of Action (TYPOA).
The CFM is also expected to explore the ways and means to help support science and technology and academic institutions.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States and Permanent Representative to the OIC, H.E. Wusu B. Munu has left the shores of Saudi Arabia to attend the conference.
The OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations with a membership of 57 States spreading over four continents – Africa, Arab, Asia and Europe. Sierra Leone became a member of the OIC in 1972 under the Presidency of Dr. Siaka P. Stevens.
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