Banjul, May 5 (APS) – The 15the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which was held on Saturday and Sunday in the Gambian capital, Banjul, made it possible to reposition Senegal in multilateral diplomacy, said the Minister of African Integration and Affairs foreigners, Yassine Fall.
”Our active participation in these exchanges allowed us to truly reposition Senegal in multilateral diplomacy and in the search for concerted solutions to the global challenges we face,” she said.
She spoke during an interview with the Senegalese Press Agency (APS) on the sidelines of the Banjul Summit whose theme was ”Strengthening unity and solidarity through dialogue for sustainable development” ‘.
The Senegalese Minister of African Integration and Foreign Affairs said she met and exchanged during bilateral meetings her counterparts from Mali, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Yemen, Gabon in with a view to strengthening the bonds of friendship between African countries but also those of the Islamic Umma.
Senegal is seizing “the opportunities” of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the African countries of the OIC, but also with other members to “really strengthen” its Senegalese diplomacy “at this level”.
According to Yassine Fall, the OIC summit “made a qualitative leap in terms of positioning, in terms of demands for respect for the rights of the Palestinian people and also in terms of demands and expectations of the peoples who constitute this organization, the second largest in the world, after the United Nations.
She noted that the meeting also addressed the rights of children, women and Muslim minorities who are persecuted and harassed in many countries around the world.
The Minister of African Integration and Foreign Affairs welcomed the presence of the Head of State, Bassirou Diomaye Faye in Banjul.
”The President of the Republic did well to participate in this summit, the first since he was at the head of the country, but above all to reaffirm the leadership that Senegal has always held regarding the Palestinian cause,” he said. -she argued.
She recalled that the OIC was created to put the Palestinian question on the table at the international level so that just and lasting solutions could be found.
”It was important that the President of the Republic was present” at the Banjul summit, she said.
”The summit is also organized by a brother country, the Gambia and it was also a strong gesture to show solidarity with the State and the Gambian people who hosted the summit,” she added.
Senegal, a pivotal country, pan-Africanism, a strong option of the government
According to her, ”Senegal has held its position at the multilateral level”, highlighting ”the interest of all the delegations who wanted to meet President” Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
She noted the interest that Senegal arouses today at the international level, at the multilateral level and at the Pan-African level.
Ms. Fall also addressed local diplomacy with the advent of the Ministry of African Integration and Foreign Affairs. ”African integration and Foreign Affairs are not just words,” she said.
”It is a political will of the government, the President of the Republic and his Prime Minister to favor relations with African countries, to strengthen bilateral cooperation and regional cooperation,” she said. said, explaining the recent trips of the Head of State to Mauritania, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau are important markers.
For Ms. Fall, “African integration is a strong option and an orientation of the Senegalese government with the aim of strengthening intra-African relations and pan-Africanism at the cultural, political and economic levels so that the continent can position itself well on the world stage.
”Africa has all the assets in human resources and knowledge to be able to fully play a major role at the international level. This is also why it was important for the president to be there at the summit, she noted.
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 – Senegalese press agency){kind=link}