7 January 2008

(Dakar) - The Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, recently stated his commitment to establishing “close cooperation” between the OIC and the global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF), looking towards the 11th OIC Summit, which will take place in Dakar in March, a reliable source informed us.

“Professor Ihsanoglu expressed his commitment for close cooperation between the OIC and the DSF, especially in light of the next Islamic Summit which will be held in March 2008 in Dakar”, reads the OIC site visited by APS.

According to the same source, Mr Ihsanoglu made this statement during a meeting at his office in Jeddah, last Thursday, with the Executive Secretary of the DSF, Alain Clerc, who was accompanied by DSF Projects Manager, Cissé Kane.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu also “stated that the Digital Solidarity Fund could be a useful means of combating ignorance and illiteracy in developing countries, including member states of the OIC”.

During the meeting, Alain Clerc briefed the Secretary General of the OIC about the mission and activities of the Fund, and the 1% contribution designed to close the digital divide between developing countries and the developed world, informs the OIC site.

The Secretary General and his guest signed “a memorandum of understanding”, which “will be a foundational framework for cooperation between the two organisations”.

Alain Clerc and Cissé Kane then had “a meeting with senior officials of the General Secretariat [of the OIC], in which they discussed the possible ways and means for close cooperation between the General Secretariat and the DSF”, continued the same source.

They also “discussed concrete projects in the field of information and communication technologies, which will be considered for possible approval at the forthcoming Islamic Summit in Dakar”.

The Digital Solidarity Fund, an initiative launched by President Abdoulaye Wade, is intended to reduce the “digital divide” between countries of the North and countries of the South. It was inaugurated in March 2005, in Geneva (Switzerland).