Poverty alleviation is the one priority area where the New Vision of the OIC and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations are entirely in congruence. Indeed seven of the eight MDGs are directly related to poverty alleviation while the OIC counts among least developed and developing countries for the vast majority of its membership. To achieve the MDGs, the New Vision established a Poverty Alleviation Fund within the IDB in 2006 and has to date received a collective pledge of $1,328 million, including $1 billion from Saudi Arabia and $300 million from Kuwait. The IDB is currently in the process of operationalizing the fund through the development of legal frameworks and guidelines.
A major portion of the fund will be used to combat disease and epidemics that plague Least Developed Member States and in this regard the IDB will coordinate with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other relevant institutions to design appropriate programs. Feasibility studies have already been conducted in this regard to define the scope of the programs as well as the mode of financing and management.
As the greatest instances of poverty are concentrated among the Sub-Saharan African Member States of the OIC, the New Vision places particular emphasis on the economic development of this region and outlines a broad range of initiatives including the promotion of industrialization, energizing of trade and investment, transfer of technology, cancellation of bilateral and multilateral debts by donor Member States and the promotion of the New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).
In this regard, joint meetings will take place between the IDB, OIC and sub-regional African organizations to develop national, regional and local projects for the West and Central African region. SESRTCIC is currently preparing poverty index databases for the African OIC Member States to aid in the preparation of recommendations. Additionally, capacity building projects are currently being implemented to explore oil and mineral resources in Mauritania and develop the palm oil industry in Sierra Leone.
