Organization of Islamic Cooperation Pledges Humanitarian Trust Fund and Banking Services for Afghanistan

Dec. 20, 2021 (EIRNS)—At the conclusion of the extraordinary conference on Afghanistan of the Organization of the Islamic Conference held in Pakistan, the OIC “decided to establish a humanitarian trust fund, under the aegis of the Islamic Development Bank Group, to serve as a vehicle to channel humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan including in partnership with other international actors.” It was announced by the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs that had convoked the extraordinary meeting, and hosted it in Islamabad.

Moreover, Al Jazeera reported Dec. 19 that “an OIC resolution released after the meeting said the Islamic Development Bank would lead the effort to free up assistance by the first quarter of 2022.” This appears to refer to “freeing up” the Afghan national reserve funds blocked and effectively seized by the U.S. Treasury and certain European banks responding to U.S. sanctions. The Nation of Pakistan put it in a roundabout way in its Dec. 20 coverage: “The OIC decided that a process will be commenced with the UN system organizations to devise a road map for mobilizing actions at the relevant fora to unlock the financial and banking channels to resume liquidity and flow of financial and humanitarian assistance.”

Al Jazeera otherwise reported that the OIC meeting did not recognize the Taliban government or include Taliban acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in the official photograph.