Senegal: ICRC president presents humanitarian activities at Islamic summit

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, is in the Senegalese capital Dakar to attend the 11th Islamic summit conference of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Mr Kellenberger plans to highlight issues of humanitarian concern, such as the plight of people forced by armed conflict to flee their homes and the deadly legacy of unexploded cluster munitions. The ICRC president will also present a report on his organization's activities on the territory of OIC members and hold talks with those members' representatives.

"In 2007, more than half of the ICRC's operations to assist and protect victims of armed conflict were carried out on the territory of OIC members," said Mr Kellenberger, speaking before the Conference began. "Our 2008 budget assigns over 260 million US dollars to work in Iraq, Sudan and Afghanistan alone, all countries that feature prominently on the OIC's agenda."

In 1994, the ICRC and the OIC signed a cooperation agreement to formalize relations and to foster consultation and exchange of information, in particular on issues of humanitarian concern. A similar agreement was signed in 2004 with the OIC's Parliamentary Union.