OIC Prepares for the 71st Session of UN General Assembly

The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is heading a high-level delegation to the 71st session of the Unite Nations General Assembly (UNGA). 
During the period of 19-23 September 2016, the OIC will hold at the UN headquarters in New York its meeting of the Committee on Palestine and the OIC Annual Coordination Meeting, which will discuss issues on the current UNGA agenda, OIC press release said. 
In addition, the OIC will have its Contact Group Meetings on Sierra Leone, Jammu and Kashmir, the aggression of Armenia on Azerbaijan, Mali, Rohingya, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yemen, and Somalia. On the sidelines of the UNGA the Secretary General is expected to hold several bilateral meetings with dignitaries and heads of delegations. 
With the latest disappointing situation in the Indian Held Kashmir of gross and systematic human rights violations of the Kashmiri people and the excessive use of force against them, the Secretary General hopes that the OIC Contact Group Meeting on Jammu and Kashmir would translate the solidarity and support of the OIC Member States into practical and effective measures in order to help people of Kashmir. 
On the other hand, the OIC Contact Group Meeting on the aggression of Armenia on Azerbaijan is being held for the first time following a resolution adopted by the 13th Islamic Summit in April to establish this contact group. 
This year the OIC is actively participating in side events at the UNGA concerning humanitarian work, including co-sponsoring the High-level event on the Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq, which will address the issues of protecting civilians and delivering assistance during military campaigns and the issue of funding for humanitarian aid in view of Mosul operation. The OIC is also co-sponsoring an event on Yemen and participating in an event on the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad Basin. 
Furthermore, the OIC will hold two thematic receptions at its Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, one on Islamophobia – given the latest worrying trends in the US and Europe – and the other on the Group of Friends of the OIC, where representatives of governmental and international organizations, civil society members, intellectuals and media personalities will participate in an open discussion on these issues.

Source : XINHUA