Home > Speeches > Statement by H.E. Ahmed Shaheed, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives at the 37th Session of the OIC Council of Ministers, Dushanbe, 19 May 2010

Mr Chairman, Mr Secretary-General, Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Allow me, Mr Chairman, to join other speakers in offering our profound appreciation to the government and people of Tajikistan for the warm welcome and the generous hospitality extended to us, and for the excellent arrangements made for our conference. It is truly a delight to visit Dushanbe, and to marvel at the richness of the culture and the traditions of the people. Central Asia holds a special place in Islamic civilisation, and I feel truly privileged to attend the OIC Council of Ministers in Dushanbe.

I would also like to express our deep gratitude for the inspiring address of His Excellency Emomali Rakhmon, President of Tajikistan at the inaugural session.

Allow me also, to congratulate you, Mr Chairman, on your election to the presidency of this 37^th Session of the Council of Ministers, and to thank the outgoing Chair, His Excellency Mr Walid Al-Moualem, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic for the tireless manner in which he had discharged the duties of the Chair of the 36^th session.

Mr Chairman, I would be failing in my duty if I did not pay tribute to the worthy efforts being made by the Secretary-General, His Excellency Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to revitalise the Organisation. At the 40-year milestone of the Organisation, the OIC is looking more robust than ever, and that transition owes a lot to his energy, enthusiasm and leadership.

Mr Chairman, we are meeting at a time of great turmoil in the Islamic world. The Ummah continues to face daunting challenges, from the continued plight of the Palestinian people, the threats posed to Al Quds Al Sharif, and the daily suffering and indignities visited upon Muslim communities caught up in conflict situations in many parts of the world.

My delegation would like to reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people and for the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. We believe the Arab Peace Plan provides a good basis for a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict and should be pursued.

The Maldives would like to voice our support for the initiative taken by President Hamid Karzai to attain national reconciliation and stability in Afghanistan, and we welcome the recent moves made by India and Pakistan, during and after the recently concluded SAARC Summit, to restart their bilateral dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues. The situation in Somalia is a matter of increasing concern to the Maldives, and we would like to lend our support to efforts to restore peace and stability in that country. I would also like to thank the Foreign Minister of Albania for the briefing that he has given on the situation in the west Balkans, and reiterate our endorsement of the call by the OIC to support the Republic of Kosovo.

Mr Chairman, the Maldives continues to watch with alarm the rising trend of Islamophobia, including the vilification of various symbols of Islam. This is a matter that needs to be addressed with great care and wisdom. In this regard, the Maldives would like to support the call made by the Secretary-General to convene a special meeting of the OIC to develop an action plan for a dialogue with the west to address Islamophobia.

Along with globalisation has come a new wave of intolerance, extremism, and terrorism. Within the Ummah, too, extremists and militants, in complete disregard of the teachings of Islam, are carrying out indiscriminate acts of violence that result in the deaths of hundreds of innocent men, women and children. Terrorism has no place in civilised society. As the distinguished leader of the Pakistan delegation today stated, “we must not allow these criminals to hijack our faith and our societies.”

Mr Chairman, it is not enough to treat just the symptoms, we must also deal with the disease. The Ummah is struggling with the challenges of poverty and deprivation, which are radicalising and destroying whole generations in many of our societies. We applaud the efforts being done to promote development within the OIC framework, including the contribution made by various institutions associated with the OIC, but more needs to be done.

Mr Chairman, the Maldives is a low-lying country, facing an existential threat from climate change. We are concerned that, globally, not enough is being done to control global warming and save countries like the Maldives, and Bangladesh and several other countries. In fact, whether low-lying or mountainous, small or big, no country can escape the tremendously destructive impact of climate change. In this regard, we applaud the leadership taken by UAE to promote renewable energy. Indeed, the core challenge is to attain sustainable development, which requires renewable and clean energy sources.

Mr Chairman, the Maldives is going through the worst economic crisis the country has faced in over 50 years. The budget deficit is nearly 30% of the GDP, and we have been compelled to enter into an IMF program, with all the pain and hardship such programs entail. One positive development, however, is the warm response given by OIC members and institutions to the pledging conference held in March to alleviate the economic situation of the Maldives. I would like to thank our brothers and sisters in OIC for their solidarity with the Maldives at a great hour of our need.

The Maldives today has a new government after 30 years, elected by free and fair elections after a new constitutional settlement was secured by a home grown democracy movement. The new government looks to expanding our ties with OIC countries.

Finally, I would like to thank the OIC membership for the universal support given to the Maldives on its bid to win a seat to the UN Human Rights Council.

Thank you.