Minister of Foreign Affairs hands over the Chairmanship of the Fiftieth Session of the OIC Foreign Ministers to his Cameroonian Counterpart
Yaounde
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad, Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug handed over on Thursday in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé, the chairmanship of the fiftieth session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cameroon, Mr. Loujain Mbayla Mbayla.
During the ceremony, the Minister said that our country assumed the presidency of the forty-ninth session of the Council of Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation with responsibility and wisdom in the midst of a regional and international circumstance characterized by growing challenges at all levels, noting that this presidency coincided with a delicate stage in which our Islamic Ummah faces increasing complexities, as tensions, armed conflicts and humanitarian crises are exacerbated, and waves of extremism, violence and hatred are growing, in addition to climate change and economic contraction, and the serious repercussions that all of this produces that further complicate the scene and multiply of the size of responsibilities.
He pointed out that our central cause, the Palestinian cause, has witnessed unprecedented rapid developments, represented by a genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation army for nearly eleven continuous months against the Palestinian people in Gaza and all the occupied Palestinian territories, without legal or moral deterrence, and in full view of a world in which the scales of justice and fairness have been frighteningly disturbed.
He added that this issue dominated the agenda of the Organization during Mauritania’s presidency, and our period witnessed an unprecedented dynamism represented in the holding of a joint Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, and several ministerial meetings at the level of delegates to discuss developments and follow up the implementation of resolutions.
He stressed the need to work for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and to deliver aid to the Palestinian people, who have been suffering from the unjust bombardment that has been going on for more than eleven months.
The Minister highlighted the great responsibility of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which represents the second largest international forum after the United Nations, in consolidating Islamic solidarity and the values of unity among Member States, on the one hand, and in contributing effectively to promoting efforts aimed at achieving peace, stability and sustainable development in the world on the other hand and which more than ever the urgent need for it.