JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia): A meeting of experts at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) urged member countries to fulfill their pledges to the capital of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), which was established for poverty alleviation in the Islamic world.

The two-day meeting came up with a number of recommendations including establishment of a group of eminent figures to act as a high- level advocacy and resource mobilization vehicle for the ISFD, which will be mandated to undertake road shows for mobilizing resources for the fund.

The ISFD was established by the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Countries) extraordinary summit in Makkah in December 2005 and launched in 2007 with the objective of fighting poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and diseases such as malaria and AIDS in IDB member countries.

The fund's target capital has been set at $10 billion of which $2.63 billion has been so far committed by the IDB and its members. Saudi Arabia gave the largest amount of $1 billion while Kuwait and Iran contributed $300 million and $100 million respectively.