Kazakhstan, Astana, Aug.17 / Trend, A.Maratov/
A special Executive Committee meeting by the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), dedicated to the humanitarian crisis in Somalia, will began its work in Istanbul on Wednesday, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Ilyas Omarov told Trend.
"Kazakhstan will coordinate efforts to assist this Muslim country in Africa, as the Chair of the organization", Omarov said.
Omarov said that the special meeting, to be held under the chairmanship of the OIC Foreign Ministerial Council, Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov, will be attended by the Somalia's President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, and the ministers of the organization's member countries.
The OIC has already developed a special program to assist Somalia. The program is worth $150 million, and is aimed at the urgent solution of four most recent problems: ensuring food security, health, drinking water, and economic recovery.
At present, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is the only international organization capable of fully dealing with humanitarian operations in Somalia.
In this regard, all the major international humanitarian institutions are working closely with the Organization in this direction, sending their assistance under the OIC auspices.
"Saudi Arabia has already announced the allocation of humanitarian aid, worth about $60 million. Iran has allocated $25 million, Kuwait $10 million, and Sudan $100,000.
Kazakhstan, acting as the OIC chairman, will provide $500,000 in assistance to the Somali people", Omarov said.