RIYADH: In commemoration of Orphan Day in the Islamic World, which falls on the 15th day of Ramadan each year, the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation called on the international community, member states and humanitarian institutions to intensify efforts aimed at promoting the care of orphans.

The annual commemoration serves to implement the decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers issued at its 40th session (Conakry 2013), which aims to institutionalize concern for orphan issues and place their requirements at the top of the OIC’s humanitarian agenda, said an official statement.

OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha said: “Caring for orphans is a collective responsibility and a religious, humanitarian and ethical duty that requires concerted efforts to ensure that they enjoy their full rights and provide a safe and supportive environment that enables them to build their future and participate actively in the development of their communities.”

The secretary-general added that the event comes amid increasing humanitarian challenges, which call for more comprehensive and sustainable approaches to ensure the protection and care of orphans, especially in light of natural disasters and conflicts in OIC member states and the resulting increase in the number of orphans and their many needs.

He said that the day could not be commemorated without highlighting the suffering of orphans in the Gaza Strip, where there are 57,000, including 17,000 children who were orphaned as a result of the recent brutal Israeli war, 3,000 of whom lost both parents.

This makes the Gaza Strip in dire need of a large number of care homes to provide a decent life for orphans, he said, adding that orphans in Gaza were the biggest victims of the Israeli aggression due to the lack of education and the destruction of many schools and educational and social facilities that used to support them.

The secretary-general highlighted the importance of developing institutional and family care programs, supporting education and psychological and social rehabilitation for orphans, and strengthening partnerships with charitable and humanitarian institutions to provide integrated health and living services that ensure their positive integration into their communities.

He said that caring for orphans and protecting their rights is a fundamental value in Islam, which calls for their care and urges the provision of comprehensive protection for them educationally, health-wise, socially, and in terms of living conditions to ensure their proper upbringing, preserve their human dignity and support their future.