IOFS visits Afghanistan and holds high level meetings with de facto government

His Excellency Mr. Yerlan A. Baidaulet, Director General the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), is leading a delegation that includes i) Ambassador Daulet Tazabekuly Yemberdiyev, Director of Cooperation & Humanitarian Aid Office and ii) Mr. Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Senior Liaison Officer, for an official humanitarian visit to the full-fledged member country, Afghanistan on 16-19 April 2022.

On the first day of the visit, the IOFS Director General, accompanied by HE Mr. Alimkhan Yessengeldiev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Afghanistan and his staff, was received in different bilateral meetings with de facto local authorities, including with i) H.E. Maulavi Mohammed Abdul Kabir, Acting Deputy Prime Minister, with whom the issue of Food Security Reserves was highlighted in order for the Government to take up necessary measures to implement such an important tool to guarantee sustainability of food security in Afghanistan; ii) with H.E. Mula Muhammad Younis Akhonzada, Minister in-charge of Rural Development, with whom notes were exchanged on how the IOFS would get involved in supporting agricultural development related projects, particularly those that may also fall under the purview of other relevant Institutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as, for instance, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) so as to utilize the OIC platform for ensuring that necessary support reach rural areas in Afghanistan; and iii) with Mula Norodin Turab, Acting President of Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), to learn about the important humanitarian work the ARCS is implementing in Afghanistan and how the IOFS could partner with them to furthering the implementation of humanitarian food assistance projects, especially those that may also be implemented within the framework of the bilateral relationship the IOFS has with the Islamic Committee of the International Crescent (ICIC).

It is important to note that throughout the aforementioned meetings, the IOFS Director General was keen to introduce the hosts to all programmes the Organization is implementing within the framework of its Strategic Plans and Pillars, as well as underscoring the special mandate the IOFS has to implement the Afghanistan Food Security Program (AFSP), as requested by 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers on the Situation in Afghanistan, held on 19 December 2021 in Islamabad, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

It should be mentioned here that the Director General is to continue his visit on 18-19 April 2022 with further bilateral meetings and to witness the signing of a MoU with the World Food Program (WFP), as well as to offer an iftar to diplomats of some OIC Member States accredited in Kabul and international organizations based therein.