Presentation

PRESENTATION

An affiliate body of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Bayt Mal Al Qods Acharif Agency was set up in 1998 upon the initiative of His Late Majesty King Hassan II, then Chairman of the Al Qods Committee. It stands as a non-lucrative Islamic Arab institution that seeks to establish and preserve the Islamic and Arab rights in the sacred city of Al Qods and to help its people remain steadfast on their lands. The action of the Agency in this regard consists in shoring up implementation of a number of programmes and projects directed towards health, education and population issues as well as towards the safeguard of the religious and civilizational heritage of Al Qods Acharif, which requires mobilization of financial funds to enable the Agency to better discharge its mission.

Since his succession to the throne, His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Al Qods Committee, has been devoting special attention to the Agency to ensure discharge of its mission and fulfilment of its objectives.

Vision of the Agency : The Bayt Mal Al Qods Acharif Agency stands as an Islamic, Arab institution with a leading role to play in the preservation of the Arab and Islamic identity of Al Qods Acharif City.

Mission of the Agency : The Bayt Mal Al Qods Acharif Agency has as a special aim to safeguard the identity of the sacred city of Al Qods and preserve its distinct religious, cultural and civilizational features by means of channelling necessary funds into the implementation of programmes and projects conducive to enhancing and strengthening the Islamic and Arab presence in the city, with the cooperation and partnership of relevant international, Islamic and Arab institutions and parties.

Values : An apolitical, non-ethnic institution,the Agency is guided by a whole set of moral and social values which consist in:

1. Honesty.

2. Transparency.

3. Accountability.

Objectives of the Agency :

The objectives of the Agency have been set out in the Statutes as follows:

1. To rescue the city of Al Qods Acharif.

2. To support Palestinian populations and Palestinian institutions in Al Qods City.

3. To preserve the sacred Mosque of Al Aqsa and the other noble sanctuaries in Al Qods as well as protect and restore the civilizational, religious, cultural and architectural heritage of the city.

Working mechanisms :

I. Structure :

The action of the Agency is supervised by two ministerial committees: namely,

- The Board of Directors :

The Board of Directors is responsible for monitoring the action of the Agency and approving its programme of action and budget. It is composed of sixteen (16) Ministers of Finance and Economics from the states members of the Al Qods Committee.

- The Trusteeship Committee :

The Trusteeship Committee is concerned with the policies and general orientations of the Agency. It is composed of five (5) members, two (2) of which are permanent members: namely, the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Palestine, and the other three (3) are elected for a three-year term of office on a regional basis representing each the African, Asian and Arab regions.

General Directorate :

The Director General : The Director General is at the head of the Executive Board of the Agency. He runs work and activities within the Agency in accordance with the functions assigned to him as set in the Statutes of the Agency. The post of the Director General of the Agency is occupied by Dr Abdelkebir Alaoui M’Daghri, Former Minister of Habous and Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco, who was appointed to the post by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Al Qods Committee.

The Executive Board : The Executive Board of the Agency is comprised of a panel of administrative and professional staff serving at the headquarters of the Agency in Rabat and in its offices in Ramallah.

The Advisory Body of the Agency in Al Qods : It is composed of a host of personalities, experts, and heads of institutions in Al Qods who provide the Agency with precious expertise each in their fields of competence on a voluntary basis.

The strategy of the Agency : The Director General has prepared a strategy for action phased over the upcoming nine years which is based on an in-depth analysis of immediate internal and external conditions. This strategy outlines the course of action to follow by the Agency for the next stage which consists in bringing points of strength and opportunities available to bear in the process for enhancing administrative performance to modern standards as well as increasing and diversifying the financial resources of the Agency.

II. Programmes and fields of intervention :

The various fields of intervention of the Agency have been identified in order of priority, based on a diagnosis and assessment of the needs of the Palestinian populations in Al Qods Acharif, which diagnosis and assessment are made by reliable Palestinian academics and researchers.

First : The housing sector

The sectors covered by the Agency vary in accordance with the budget allocated by the Agency. The housing sector accounts for 50% of the overall amount of expenditures incurred by the Agency in Al Qods. As for the sector of education, it comes in the second place followed by health and social sectors.

Special attention is focused by the Agency on the sector of housing, given its importance in making citizens remain steadfast on their lands in the face of Israeli deportation and settlement plans. This is achieved through the following means:

- Shoring up and funding individual and collective loan programmes for the construction of houses.

- Restoring and rehabilitating old houses and dwellings.

- Granting small grants to improve housing standards for poor and marginalised populations.

Second : The education sector

The activities scheduled in the field of education feature:

- Building schools and equipping them with necessary educational and teaching materials.

- Purchasing buildings and converting them into schools.

- Financing procurement of building permit for the construction of schools.

- Funding a wide range of projects for the benefit of students which include setting up summer camps and providing poor students with school material.

- Granting higher education scholarships for students in local and international universities.

Third : The health sector

Health comes third in the list of priorities established by the Agency. Relevant activities include:

- Providing medical equipment and materials.

- Providing support for expanding and enhancing the health services delivered.

- Providing support for the purchase of medications.

Fourth : the social sector

A multitude of different activities are targeted for intervention in the social sector which cover the following areas:

- Sports and youth.

- Providing funds for cultural activities and cultural centres.

- Supporting institutions catering for categories with special needs.

- Providing support for programmes of humanitarian and charitable institutions.

III. General criteria for selecting projects :

1. The venue for the implementation of the project should be within borders of the city of Al Qods Acharif.

2. The Project should benefit an Islamic, Arab party.

3. The project should accommodate existing needs within the framework of the priorities set by the Agency in Al Qods Acharif.

4. The project should meet the budget goals established.

5. The project should meet the technical and administrative conditions set for its execution.

6. The implementing party and the recipient party should be chosen from among credible and notorious authorities within Al Qods City.

7. The documents required for the project, including relevant data and supportive documentation, should be made available.

8. The project should not result in any conflict of interest or duplication in relation to funding and execution.

IV. Funding resources :

The resources used by the Agency are comprised of what follows:

1. Voluntary contributions of member states.

2. Donations and gifts made by such parties as public and private authorities, charitable associations, Islamic and Arab communities as well as companies and individuals.

3. Proceeds from capitalised assets, properties, projects, contributions and products of the Agency.

These and other resources are collected from states members and non-members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

In this regard, the Al Qods Committee has exhorted, in its relevant resolutions, all the states members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to further support to Palestinian populations in Al Qods City. It also urged Islamic states, banks and funds as well as companies and individuals to provide the Bayt Mal Al Qods Acharif with generous financial support and to conduct donation campaigns for the city of Al Qods Acharif, the aim being to raise necessary funds for institutions and organs in Al Qods city to discharge their mission consisting in helping populations remain steadfast in their city in the face of occupation.

The Trusteeship Committee and the Board of Directors have entrusted the Agency and the Director General in their successive meetings with the task of pooling all forms of support to enable the Agency to strengthen its presence and attain its objectives. We mention, in particular, the resolutions issued by the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in its successive sessions (from the 26^th session held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 1999, through the past session held in the capital city of Azerbaijan). Also significant in this regard is the fact that the Islamic Summit Conference has, in its Third Extraordinary Session held in Makkah Al Mukarramah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in 2005, pointed out the need to extend full support to the Bayt Mal Al Qods Acharif Agency in its action to help Palestinian populations and institutions in Al Qods city remain steadfast on their lands.

V. Member States of the Al Qods Committee :

As part of recognition of the importance of the Al Qods City and the special status given to it by the Muslim countries at large, the Al Qods Committee was set up by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Chaired by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Sovereign of the Kingdom of Morocco, Al Qods Committee counts in its membership the following states:

- The Kingdom of Morocco.

- The Republic of Iraq.

- The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

- The Republic of Lebanon.

- The Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

- The State of Palestine.

- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

- The Syrian Arab Republic.

- The Republic of Guinea.

- The People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

- The Islamic Republic of Iran.

- The Republic of Indonesia.