Annex 3 to OIC/COMCEC/36-20/REP
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In addition, businesses in service sectors are also seriously affected by
lockdowns in various areas such as transport, travel, and tourism. The scenarios
indicating that the potential shock would cause between a 60-80 percent decline in the
international tourism in 2020 and rising unemployment also likely to worsen the risk of
poverty in our countries.
In response to the pandemic, OIC Member States have taken strict measures to
prevent the outbreak, to ensure the proper functioning of the healthcare system and
protect the most vulnerable.
In this context, I wish to inform that the Extraordinary Meeting of the OIC
Executive Committee at the Level of Foreign Ministers on the Consequences of the
COVID-19 Pandemic was held virtually on 22 April 2020. The meeting called for
global COVID-19 response efforts to continue in a spirit of solidarity, drawing on
scientific research and large-scale coordination, while scaling-up national preparedness
and response measures of prevention and alleviation of the devastating effects of the
pandemic.
In this regard, the OIC has mobilized the full capacity of the Organisation and
its institutions to support our countries in developing and implementing national plans
to cope with the COVID-19 and to mobilize OIC-wide coordinated and coherent
response to the pandemic and its adverse social, economic and financial impact on
societies. It is in this context that I would like to commend the Islamic Development
Bank (IsDB) Group for launching a US$2.3 billion Strategic Preparedness and
Response Programme for COVID-19 pandemic, which is aimed at supporting our
member states’ efforts to prevent, contain, mitigate and recover from the impact of the
pandemic. In this context, I wish to thank the Government of the Republic of Turkey
for the COMCEC COVID Response (CCR) Programme. The SESRIC, ICDT, ISF,
IOFS, SMIIC and ICCIA have also implemented several projects and training and
capacity building programmes on various aspects on economy for the benefit of our
countries.
In addition, the OIC prioritized mobilization of resources to the needs of our
Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in order to enable them to cope with the pandemic
and facilitate economic recovery. In this regard, I would like to point out that I urged
OIC countries with available excess sources to assist other OIC countries, especially
the LDCs in order to enhance their capabilities to mitigate the socio-economic impact
of the COVID-19. In this connection, the OIC General Secretariat and the Islamic
Solidarity Fund (ISF) launched a joint Initiative to assist Member States to fight the
pandemic. The ISF has provided US$ 1 million emergency assistance to Member States,