On 21 April 2023, the Islamic Organization for Food Security hosted its yearly tradition of celebrating Eid Al-Fitr with the esteemed diplomatic corps and local partners in Astana, Kazakhstan. The event gathered representatives from 20 countries, and key partners of IOFS including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, UNICEF and more. The event started with a prayer to celebrate Eid-El Fitr as well as the welcoming remarks by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Yerbol Taszhurekov, and the IOFS Director General H.E. Yerlan Alimzhanuly Baidaulet, followed by the speech of Ambassador of Palestine to the Republic of Kazakhstan, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, H.E. Mr. Montaser Abou Zeid.
The IOFS was able to highlight and share the significant advances, transitions, plans, and new mandates that have been adopted to strengthen the position of the IOFS and facilitate the process of achieving the mission of the organization for the benefit of all Organization of Islamic Cooperation ( OIC ) Member States.
The Guests of the Reception were able to get acquainted with the transition of the organization from activities to projects in 2023, including the development and implementation of the following projects:
- Sheep Farming Development
- Meat Hub West Africa
- Bakery Supply Chain
- Regional Wheat Development in Mauritania
- Integrated Water Plan for Niger and Sahel
- Vertical Farming
- Establishment of Food Banks
- IOFS Center of Excellence for Organic Farming
The IOFS leadership also called on the audience to join the efforts of the organization in providing assistance to the people of Afghanistan. It should be noted that IOFS holds the global mandate in implementing and coordinating all humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan from OIC Member States through the Afghanistan Food Security Program, as adopted by the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in 2021.
The recent efforts of the IOFS were also demonstrated with a report on the IOFS Food Humanitarian Convoy to Afghanistan that was collected with the generous contributions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, and delivered on 15-16 April to Kabul and Herat.
The Reception concluded with an invitation for all interested Member States and partners to collaborate with the IOFS for the upcoming 6th IOFS General Assembly, to be held on 2-3 October 2023 in Doha, Qatar. A platform for exchanging and coordinating joint efforts of Islamic countries in enhancing food security, expected to bring together 56 OIC Member States, more than 25 international organizations, and more than 250 participants.
The IOFS would like to take the thank Member states for their support and to once more wish all the Muslims around the world a blessed and serene Eid Al-Fitr!
