SOME five million people in 29 countries under the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are set to benefit from the One Wash Fund, said Economics Affair Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali. 

The One Wash Fund was established based on an innovative financing mechanism to attract new philanthropic and private investor capital. It also combines Islamic social finance contributions with traditional donor financing. 

The fund is a joint-financing initiative between the the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). 

“The joint initiative is timely as latest global estimates show that one person is infected with cholera or similar diarrheal diseases every 10 seconds and the programme supported by the fund is expected to improve the lives of five million people in 29 member countries of the OIC. 

“We are confident that the establishment of this fund will help IsDB-IFRC kickstart a new era for development financing, proving that Islamic financing together with private capital and traditional overseas development aid can create transformative impact for communities in need,” Azmin said. 

He noted that the move is an example of multilateral cooperation where organisations with complementary strengths, capabilities and capacity work together to solve a global issue. 

He also stressed on the crucial role of multilateral cooperation which was expounded by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, adding that all parties involved must be on an equal footing in advocacy and negotiations of their interests. 

Azmin had announced the establishment of the fund at a high-level dialogue at the 74th United Nations General Assembly in New York, on Thursday.  

“Malaysia was the only Asian country to be given the honour of making an announcement of new initiatives at the high-level dialogue. This is a recognition of the close partnership that we have enjoyed with IsDB and IFRC,” he said in a statement. – September 28, 2019.