OIC Women’s Development Organization conference tackles gender equality

The logo of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

CAIRO – October 22, 2020: The activities of the first ordinary session of the Organization for the Development of Women, affiliated to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), began with the virtual meeting of senior officials of member states of the organization on October 21.

Deputy Foreign Minister for Human Rights and International Social and Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Ihab Jamal El-Din stressed that the development equation is not complete without activating the role of women and providing them with the skills, capacities, opportunities and support necessary to play their role in the development of their societies.

“The Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation decided in 2010 to institutionalize the efforts of the OIC to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women, through the adoption of the Statute of the Organization for the Development of Women, ”Jamal El-Din added.

The Director of the Department of Women at the Ministry of Women, Family and Solidarity in Burkina Faso praised the great effort made by the Egyptian government and the OIC General Secretariat for the organization to start its activities.

The meeting discussed several important issues and documents that will help kick-start the work of the organization, and they were agreed upon and submitted for approval by the women’s ministers of the organization’s member states, today.

Egypt also participated in the meeting with a delegation of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Council of Women, headed by the Deputy Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Social and Humanitarian Affairs, Mahmoud Afifi.

The Organization for the Development of Women is a specialized organization affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its headquarters are in Cairo. The organization currently includes 15 Islamic countries, namely Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritania, Niger, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates.

A large number of Islamic countries have signed the statutes of the organization and the completion of the internal procedures for ratification by the legal system of each country is underway.