Guyana   and Suriname to participate in Islamic Cooperation meeting in   Djibouti

Guyana and Suriname, the Western   hemisphere’s only member- states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation   (OIC), will both send delegations to the horn of Africa next week to attend   the 39th OIC Council of Foreign Minister (CFM) Conference which begins on   November 15 in Djibouti.

Guyana’s ambassador to Kuwait, Dr. Odeen   Ishmael will lead his country’s delegation to Djibouti.  Dr. Ishmael last   addressed an OIC CFM meeting back in 2002 in Al-Khartoum, the Sudan. Prior to   that, he was basically Guyana’s envoy to the OIC and addressed numerous OIC   gatherings in Africa and Asia.  He will deliver Guyana’s first address to   the CFM in Djibouti after a decade long absence from the forum.

Ms. Kitty Sweeb,   Suriname’s second in command at its mission to the United Nations who   participated in the last CFM meeting in Kazakhstan last year will head her   country’s delegation to Djibouti.   

Suriname has taken several major steps   to consolidated OIC ties. More recently, Suriname paid all overdue funds to   the OIC, invited the OIC Secretary General, Dr. Ihsanoglu to Paramaribo and   plans to open an embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Suriname also has other   ambitious plans to solidify ties with the OIC in an effort to drive its   economic development.

It is expected that the 39th CFM will be   dominated by several issues – the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar,   Islamophobia, the Syria crisis, the Palestinian aspirations of statehood, the   insurgency in Mali, poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, and the request for new   membership by the Mauritius, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Republic of   Central Africa, Serbia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and the Philippines.  

Both South American nations, with   sizeable Muslim populations, joined the 57-member group of the OIC back in the   1990s to diversify political and economic ties. Both countries have recognized   the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders. Suriname has strong historical   bonds with Indonesia, the world largest Islamic nation. People of Indonesian   origin make up about 15% of Suriname's population.