FOCA Presses Forward on Darfur
Next Steps after Khartoum Meetings

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Following the visit of a delegation from the Friends of Charities Association (FOCA) to Khartoum for meetings with senior Sudanese officials on the situation in Darfur, members of the Association considered how best to proceed in light of the progress made at the Khartoum talks.

At the beginning of the delegation visit, FOCA leaders had expressed a desire to mediate the return of expelled NGOs to Darfur. Sudanese officials insisted that the expulsions were not reviewable but held out the hope that foreign NGOs, perhaps including those who had been expelled, could be permitted to operate in Darfur if they met certain requirements and agreed to respect Sudanese sovereignty.

Dr. Saleh al-Wohaibi, Secretary-General of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and the leader of the FOCA delegation, expressed the hope that no final decision be made on the expelled NGOs until all of the issues and opportunities had been fully explored. “Our initiative is still at a very early stage. We have listened carefully to the legitimate concerns of the government of Sudan and will take these concerns to the NGO community in Washington and London in the near future. We will hear from organizations that have an interest in the matter and see how best to move forward.”

FOCA President Wendell Belew announced that preliminary consultations with aid organizations have already begun and will continue in Washington this week. “For some time now, FOCA has engaged with other groups to consider how aid organizations can best operate under a variety of conditions, including conflict areas such as Darfur,” he said. “I believe that the work that we have done can point the way to procedures that respect national sovereignty, acknowledge security concerns, preserve the rights of charities under International Humanitarian Law and - most importantly - ensure that aid gets to those who need it.”

The Friends of Charities Associations is an association of Islamic charities located in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. Members include the Muslim World League, World Assembly of Muslim Youth, the International Islamic Relief Organization of Saudi Arabia, Al-Muntada al-Islami and the Makkah Al-Mukarrama Charity Foundation.

CONTACT:
Wendell Belew
202-255-3808

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