The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, received Ministers of OIC Member States and Observer Members who are attending the OIC Conference of Ministers of Labor (ICLM) being held in Jeddah, on 21-22 February 2018. Faizullah Zaki, Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan met the Secretary General at the latter's office on February 21, 2018. Minister Zaki and Secretary General Othaimeen touched upon issues of mutual concerns during their discussion with specific reference to the importance of job creation and employment generation for the youth while tackling the scourge of extremism and terrorism. Both underlined the importance of the OIC office in Kabul in furthering the engagement between the OIC and Afghanistan and agreed to make the best use of the Office in dealing with political as well as humanitarian issues of concern for the country. The Secretary General also received Sir Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, at his office on the same day. Minister Rashidi and Secretary General Al-Othaimeen discussed the proceedings of the ICLM and different labor-related issues while underlining the specific concerns related to expatriate workers. The Minister requested Dr. Al-Othaimeen to use his good offices towards proper implementation of relevant resolutions in this regard. Earlier in the day, Zeki Celer, Minister of Labor and Social Security of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, met with the Secretary General at the latter's office. The discussions focused on the various challenges faced by the migrant workers and the possible steps to be taken in this regard. On this topic, both Minister Celer and Secretary General Al-Othaimeen underlined the importance of bilateral consultations between the sending and recipient countries of work forces towards reducing the role of third parties.
