A delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Department of Humanitarian Affairs held talks in Washington with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department on the best ways and means of furthering cooperation between the two institutions in the humanitarian domain, according to OIC statement that was issued on Friday.

The talks focused on the implementation of the OIC-USAID Plan of Action, the revised OIC-USAID Memorandum of Understanding, the ongoing preparation for the World Humanitarian Summit, the reform of the global humanitarian architecture and the Forum for Humanitarian Aid Effectiveness.

They also discussed the June 18th NGOs Forum in Geneva as well as capacity building schedule and the future collaboration between the OIC and USAID.

Further discussions were also held on a range of humanitarian crises in Africa (Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, West Africa & Ebola), the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Palestine) and other crises in Asia including the humanitarian situation in Myanmar.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the two heads of delegations signed the new OIC-USAID Joint Plan of Action covering the years 2015 and 2016 which will govern their humanitarian activities on capacity building, partnership missions, cooperation on the World Humanitarian Summit Process, exchange of information, engagement with broad donor groups and policy dialogue among other activities.