Sana'a, Indonesia-Relief -- In
the 32nd session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM)
in Sana'a, Yemen, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) finally
raised $1.3 billion to help tsunami victims in Indonesia and will open
representative office in July in Jakarta and Banda Aceh to coordinate relief
as well as aid distribution.
''The organization had formed a team
of representatives from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey and Malaysia to
discuss matters pertaining to aid for the victims,'' said OIC Secretary
General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, as quoted by Bernama, Malaysian news agency.
Ihsanoglu also signed an agreement with the government of Indonesia for the opening of OIC representative with Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hasan Wirajuda. Government of Saudi Arabia provide 1.5 million dollar to setup the office, Kompas daily reported on Friday.
As a first step, Ihsanoglu said, the team agreed to allocate $30 million per month for 25,000 children in Aceh and North Sumatra who lost their parents in the tragedy. In the conference, Foreign Ministry of Turkey Abdullah Gul handed over $1 million cheques to the team. Union of Arab Emirates pledged to support 5,000 orphans for 15 years. Qatar also committed to support the orphans, but hasn't decided the exact pledge.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirajuda praised the OIC seriousness in supporting reconstruction of Indonesian tsunami victims. ''OIC has show their real solidarity and cooperation with tsunami affected countries. We welcome them to open office in Indonesia to monitor the aid distribution,'' said Wirajuda, former Indonesian ambassador for Egypt.
The OIC team, which Wirajuda called as OIC's Coalition for Tsunami Orphans, is not limited to OIC member's government, but open to all organization and institution from Islamic countries.
During the OIC Commission of Eminent Persons (OIC-CEP) inaugural meeting in Kuala Lumpur early this year, the OIC was criticized for not acting fast in providing aid to the tsunami victims in Indonesia. © che