H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK held a bilateral meeting with H.E. Nasser Ayman AL-MAJALI, Secretary General of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA) on the sidelines of the 2024 Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group Annual Meetings and commemoration of the IsDB Group’s 50^th Anniversary held in Riyadh.

During the meeting, H.E SELÇUK mentioned that over 52% of the population in the OIC countries group is aged 24 or younger and accordingly there is a significant opportunity to engage and inspire the youth through sports and physical activities. She told that SESRIC is preparing the “State of Youth in the OIC Member States” as the main technical background document for the biennial sessions of the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sport Ministers (ICYSM). She added that besides this Report, SESRIC took the lead role in the preparation of “The OIC Youth Strategy”. The Strategy provides broad guidelines to facilitate the meaningful participation and engagement of youth in the overall national and international development efforts.

In line with their vision to increase their collaboration with other relevant OIC institutions, H.E. AL-MAJALI thanked H.E. SELÇUK for the meeting and underlined that ISSA is ready to collaborate with SESRIC and explore avenues for cooperation on  sports initiatives in the member countries.

The meeting concluded with both representatives expressing their willingness to strengthen collaboration and foster impactful initiatives across the OIC countries.

The Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA) is an affiliated organ of the OIC. The decision to establish the ISSA was taken at the 3^rd Islamic Summit Conference held in Mecca and Al Taif in 1981. Representatives of 34 OIC countries attended the constituent assembly in1985 for the foundation of the ISSA in Saudi Arabia, which ratified its statute. As per the resolutions of 42^nd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) held in Kuwait in May 2015, ISSA became the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sport Ministers’ (ICYSM) Secretariat on sports issues.