The Road to the SDGs

T H E R O A D T O T H E S D G s | P R O G R E S S A N D A C H I E V E M E N T S informed him of the visits I had made to some schools in the capital and villages, and shared my view that the development of Niger's education and health sectors needs huge funds beyond the capacity of IsDB and other international financial institutions and that the resources of the governmental sector were limited. I suggested to him that a Waqf sector be built to complement the government's role in supporting socioeconomic development, and expressed IsDB's willingness to help in that regard. He welcomed the suggestion and I contacted IsDB's office in Dakar, Senegal, on that very day, asking them to send a team to Niger to share Senegal's experience in Waqf, which IsDB had helped build. Financial assistance was allocated to carry out the necessary studies. The team drafted laws and regulations for the Waqf sector and helped establish a Waqf institution. A specialised staff member from IsDB was appointed to manage the Waqf institution. A supreme body for Waqf was established and Dr. Hamid Algabid, former OIC Secretary-General (1989- 1996) and former Prime Minister (1983-1988) of Niger, was appointed as its chairman. During my visit to Guinea, I also had the honour of meeting the President of the Republic, Mr. Alpha Condé, and discussed with him at length the importance of launching an awareness and education programme in Africa on the role of Waqf in socioeconomic development. He welcomed the idea and called for a large conference on Waqf to be attended by a number of African heads of state and those interested in the sector. The conference was organised by IsDB in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance in January 2019. 2. IsDB operates in 57 MCs in addition to Muslim communities in non-MCs and plans to develop the third non-profit sector in these countries and benefit from successful experiences in the advanced industrialised states. Hence came the idea of establishing a practical framework for institutional coordination among Waqf institutions in MCs, with a view to establishing a specialised institution to improve the capacity of Waqf institutions and provide them with information and expertise, promote innovation and use modern technologies in the management and investment of Waqf assets and building of individual capacities. This is what inspired us to establish a global centre of excellence for Waqf to achieve this vision. The centre will provide a unified framework for coordination among institutions concerned with Waqf worldwide, create an active partnership between them, enhance their efficiency, prevent the dispersal of efforts, seek to develop the legislative system, transfer pioneering experience and expertise in the management and investment of Waqf and promote scientific research and practical application efforts. It will also be a reference for reliable Waqf information to operationalise the developmental role of Waqf. The centre’s areas of activity will be as follows: u Create the interactive global digital Waqf platform to collect scattered Waqf information, make them available through a single database and provide decision makers with reliable information on the various aspects of Waqf. u Launch an annual Waqf forum that would bring together Waqf stakeholders from all over the world to consider contemporary Waqf issues, provide appropriate solutions, share successful experiences and devise initiatives that would represent added value. It is contemplated to be similar to the Davos forum, with the grace of Allah. u Assume the form and functions of a global consultancy firm in the field of Waqf that coordinates among institutions, consolidates all efforts, contributes to the commercialisation of programmes and projects and provides Waqf institutions with technical support towards enhancing the development of their human resources and their institutional architecture. Al-Madina Al-Munawarah was selected to host the headquarters of the Global Waqf Centre, having been venue to the first Waqf in Islam and being the actual capital of Waqf. 3. We have increased the authorised capital of the Awqaf Properties Investment Fund (APIF) from US$ 100 million to US$ 500 million and attracted five new participants. APIF's subscribed capital was hence increased from US$ 76.41 million to US$ 98.57 million. We expect that three new contemplated contributions to APIF will further increase its subscribed capital by approximately US$ 17 million. We should recall that APIF was established with the aim of developing real estate Waqf properties of economic and social benefit in MCs and Muslim communities in non- MCs. I would like to highlight an important point in this context, namely the amendment of APIF's regulations so as to include investment in other sectors, such as industry, agriculture and other sectors, in addition to its original field of real estate. This is because limiting investments to real estate assets also limits job creation and the social and environmental impacts. 4. IsDB launched two partnership initiatives with two UN institutions. The first is with UNICEF, the largest international organisation working for children. Under this initiative, a fund was established to mobilise Zakat and charity funds and channel them towards achieving child-related SDGs. KSRelief and the Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair Refugee Education Fund joined this new fund. I take this opportunity to thank them both for their pioneering [ 23 ]