Senior Officials Preparatory Meeting for the Fifteenth Session of the Islamic Summit Conference Begins in Banjul
Banjul
The Preparatory Senior Officials Meeting for the Fifteenth Session of the Islamic Summit Conference began on Tuesday in Banjul, Capital of the Republic of The Gambia, where the Islamic Summit Conference will be held on 4-5 May 2024.
The meeting aims to discuss the documents of the session and submit its report to the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, which in turn will submit a report to the Islamic Summit Conference.
At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Abdullah Al Tayer, Advisor at the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Multilateral International Affairs, delivered a speech on behalf of his country in its capacity as President of the Islamic Summit Conference at its fourteenth session, in which he reviewed the valuable efforts and initiatives it has made, the achievements it has achieved, and the many activities and conferences in various sectors organized by the Kingdom during its presidency of the previous session, expressing his support for the efforts of the OIC General Secretariat.
For his part, Lang Yabou, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambian Abroad, on behalf of his country, which is hosting the 15th session of the Islamic Summit Conference, welcomed the delegates of Member States, stressing that his country is doing its utmost to ensure the success of the session, which is being held under the theme “Strengthening unity and solidarity through dialogue for sustainable development”.
For his part, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Yousef Al-Dubaie, delivered a speech in which he congratulated the Republic of the Gambia on assuming the presidency of this session, reiterating his thanks to the Government of The Gambia for the good arrangements it made to host this summit.
He also expressed his deep appreciation and gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its valuable and appreciated efforts and initiatives during its presidency of the Fourteenth Islamic Summit, which once again demonstrated its strong commitment to joint Islamic action and the mission of the Organization, praising all the support that the Kingdom has always provided to the Organization as the headquarters country, under the generous patronage and keenness of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
The Assistant Secretary General explained that this summit, which is being held at a delicate juncture witnessing very important developments for the various issues on the agenda of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, foremost of which is the Palestinian issue, the central issue of the organization, will discuss, in addition to the summit documents, issues of peace and security, Muslim communities and minorities in non-member countries, legal, humanitarian, social, cultural, economic, science and technology, information, administrative and financial affairs.
The Banjul Summit represents a unique opportunity for Member States to strengthen their cooperation in order to promote joint Islamic action and engage in constructive dialogue on global issues and challenges facing the Islamic Ummah.