The Chief Executive Officer of the OIC Secretariat, Yankuba Dibba, announced on Friday that the date of the Islamic Summit has been moved forward as the country is bracing up for the 2024 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Conference.
Speaking to journalists during a press conference held at Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center, Bijilo, OIC Secretariat CEO told media practitioners that the 2024 Islamic Summit is now scheduled for 4th and 5th of May 2024.
The tiny West African nation was designated in 2018 to host the Islamic Conference. The move set the spotlight on the country, triggering major infrastructural development projects, including the construction of a major road on Bertil Harding Highway, a Radison Blue hotel and etc…
“Our road projects are advancing very well,” he said while indicating that they have been working with various arms of government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the President Office.
Dibba assured journalists that the OIC General Secretariat is in line with them as they are putting up efforts to make the Islamic Summit a reality.
“As far as the technical and organisations agreements were concerned, we are ready to host the 15th OIC Summit in The Gambia,” he told reporters in his preliminary statement.” He then added that invitation letters, signed by President Adama Barrow, are being dispatched to member-States.
OIC Summit was expected to take place in December this year but the OIC Secretariat SG has made it very clear that the Gaza war was a contributing factor in the decision to re-schedule the much-awaited Islamic Conference.
In an attempt to shut down speculations, Dibba further stated that pushing the date ahead does not mean that the Summit is cancelled or taken to another place.
It could be recalled that the press conference comes on the heels of the just concluded Arab and Muslim leaders summit in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia.
The meeting called for an immediate ceasefire, rubbishing the justification of the Gaza war by Israel and its allies.
