The world’s biggest grouping of Islamic nations has pledged 145 million dollars for Indonesia’s tsunami-ravaged Aceh province, to be spent largely on children orphaned by the December 26 disaster, a report said Sunday.
The money will finance various projects over a four to five year period, chair of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was quoted as saying by the <i>New Straits Times</i>.
The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), along with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), has already identified five projects to fund, including a home for orphans in Aceh. Work to build the shelter will start in three month’s time, Badawi said.
“The OIC and IDB have made the necessary contacts in Indonesia. What is important now is to identify where, and how big the shelter should be,” he said.
Abdullah was speaking in Saudi Arabia after a meeting with a delegation from the Islamic Development Bank and the Organisation of Islamic Conference. He is in Saudi Arabia for a three-day visit, which ends Sunday.
