The Dakar Declaration (11th OIC Summit) asks member countries to apply the 1% digital solidarity contribution. 500,000 computers will be distributed in OIC countries.

 

 

y deciding, through the Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF), to provide 500,000 computers to the member countries of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, at the Dakar Summit on 13 and 14 March 2008, the kings, sovereigns and heads of state and government of the OIC have made a first step in establishing concrete cooperation between their institution and the DSF.

This decision also sees the OIC member countries confirm their commitment to contribute significantly to increasing access to the information society and achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Following a meeting between the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Mr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, and the Executive Secretary of the DSF, Mr. Alain Clerc, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two institutions. During that meeting, Professor Ihsanoglu stated his wish to establish “close cooperation” between the OIC and the DSF, looking towards the 11th OIC Summit in Dakar. He also underlined that the “DSF could be a useful means of combating ignorance and illiteracy in developing countries, including member states of the OIC”.

The idea of undertaking a large-scale process of equipping the populations of OIC member countries with computers, particularly in the field of education and health, was also mentioned during that meeting. The recent OIC Summit in Dakar confirms this proposal and the commitment of the two organisations to work towards an information society that facilitates the participation of the OIC member countries in globalisation and improves access to knowledge.

In addition to this ambitious programme, which should be completed by the next Summit to be held in Egypt in 2011, the OIC Summit also appealed to its member countries to join the DSF and apply the 1% digital solidarity principle (or "Geneva Principle"). In the lead-up to 2015 and on the eve of the Doha conference, the DSF welcomes this major political decision, which reflects the political backing of 57 states for an information society based on solidarity.