In Jeddah, UNDP continued its dialogue with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation through a series of high-level meetings held on 03-04 May 2026 aimed at strengthening strategic cooperation in humanitarian, social, economic and development fields.

As part of this mission, H.E. Dr. Ahmad Kawesa Sengendo, OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs, received a UNDP delegation led by Ms. Nahid Hussein, UNDP Resident Representative in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, at the OIC General Secretariat headquarters in Jeddah. In a separate meeting, H.E. Amb. Dr. Tariq Ali Bakheet, OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian, Cultural and Social Affairs, also received the UNDP delegation.

The discussions across both departments focused on areas of cooperation between the OIC General Secretariat and UNDP, most notably, the growing role of Islamic philanthropy including Zakat, Awqaf and Sadaqah, as a catalyst for early recovery, resilience and sustainable development. Discussions also reinforced cooperation between UNDP, OIC and the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) as essential to exploring how Islamic philanthropy can play a complementary role to traditional humanitarian and development financing across both organizations’ mutual constituency.

These meetings come shortly after  the renewal of OIC’s partnership with UNDP at the corporate level in February 2026 by the Secretary-General of OIC H.E. Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha and the Administrator of UNDP Mr. Alexander De Croo. UNDP’s partnership with OIC dates back to 1981, when the first MOU was signed. Following renewed engagements since August 2025, facilitated by the Saudi Arabia and Yemen Country Office leadership, discussions with the OIC Secretariat confirmed mutual interest in modernizing the original framework and elevating the partnership to a more strategic and operational level.