Seminar 10 - UNRWA/OIC Waqf Fund

The Waqf Fund (endowment) is a multilateral financing facility created by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to support the humanitarian programs of UNRWA for Palestine refugees. The OIC had tasked the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to establish the Waqf Fund. UNRWA and the IsDB are aiming to formally launch the Waqf Fund on 1 January 2021. Together with the OIC, they will lead a resource mobilization campaign aimed at capitalizing the fund so that the bank could invest the resources in low risk business ventures that will yield perpetual income for UNRWA. The IsDB and UNRWA have agreed to accept land and/or properties as a tangible contribution to the Waqf Fund as IsDB’s Awqaf Properties Investment Fund (APIF) has agreed to invest in real estate and properties and turn them into a commercial property.