On June 11, on our Instagram account @youthrussia we hosted a live stream with Taha Ayhan, President of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF), which is an international non-commercial organization uniting leading youth organizations from the member states of the Organization of Islamic-Cooperation (OIC), as well as international youth organizations, operating in the OIC region and youth organizations representing significant Muslim minorities worldwide. Taha shared some insights about the work of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum in the times of global challenges and new opportunities.
Taha explained that the main goals of the ICYF are youth advocacy and development of youth empowerment programs in political, economic and cultural contexts. He described his organization as an NGO, which works with youth in Muslim countries. He mentioned that there were two types of membership in the ICYF: national youth councils or leading youth institutions of the OIC member states and international organizations working with Muslim youth. He stressed that the ICYF works with Muslim youth even from non-member states of the OIC by collaborating with youth NGOs in North America and Europe.
Taha also shared that ICYF operated independently from the OIC and had its own budget and audience. «We have to be in line with the OIC rules and regulations. We shouldn’t act against the OIC policy. At the same time we enjoy our independence in terms of projects and decisions. The OIC shows great support for our programs,» he emphasized.
Taha highlighted that the ICYF is not a religious organization. «We are open to any young people who are eligible for our projects. Everyone can apply. We never select participants based on their religious beliefs, although we are focused on advocating for the rights of Muslim minorities,» he said.
Speaking about Islamophobia, he stated that its eradication is one of the top priorities for both the IOC and the ICYF. Taha compared Islamophobia with Russophobia. He underlined that all of such «phobias» are different faces of the same xenophobic attitude and prejudice. «Nowadays in Germany there are 3 million people from Turkey who emigrated 50 years ago. Those refugees (now into their 4th generation) have citizenship and have assimilated into society but they are still vulnerable to racially motivated attacks,» he explained.
Taha emphasized that our biodiversity is the main value of our world. He urged to preserve the diversity of cultures, struggle against racism and try to eliminate all kind of conflicts between countries and within them.
This is only a small part of the profound interview with Taha Ayhan. We strongly recommend you to watch the full interview to learn more about the role of youth organizations in peacebuilding and resolving the refugee crisis, Taha’s personal aspirations and etc.
Full interview is available here: