Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - 20–22 January 2026 – Upon the instructions of His Excellency Ambassador Berik Aryn, Director General of the Islamic Organisation of Food Security (IOFS), Mr. Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Chief Multilateral Relations Officer, represented the Organization at the 48th Islamic Commission for Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs (ICECS), convened at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah as part of the preparatory process for the 52nd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), scheduled to take place on 11–12 April 2026 in Baghdad, Republic of Iraq.
Regarding the IOFS, Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have agreed to widen its mandate by endorsing the inclusion of women-related issues within the Organization’s future areas of work. In this context, the forthcoming 52nd CFM is expected to approve a call on Member States and relevant OIC institutions to support IOFS in the implementation of the Women Agriculture Development Initiative (WADI), one of the pilot joint initiatives undertaken in partnership with UN Women.
Member States also underscored the importance of strengthening humanitarian assistance for Palestine. They called for the expansion of IOFS humanitarian programmes to cover the West Bank and Al-Quds Al-Sharif, while reaffirming support for the ongoing Gaza Emergency Appeal Programme implemented by the Organization.
On the sidelines of the ICECS, the IOFS representative participated in the Palestine Coordination Meeting held on 21 January 2026, which focused on enhancing coordination and aligning future actions in support of the Palestinian people. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr. Ahmad Sengendo, OIC Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs, and brought together the Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the OIC alongside relevant OIC institutions active in the economic domain. Participants agreed to establish a Working Group on Palestine, with its first in-person meeting expected to be held on the margins of the 52nd CFM in Baghdad.
The broadened mandate of IOFS is accompanied by renewed calls for the Organization to continue and strengthen its flagship programmes, notably the Afghanistan Food Security Programme (AFSP) and the Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI), reaffirming IOFS’s central role in advancing food security and resilience across Member States.
