*Syria was suspended from the OIC on August 15, 2012 in response to the government’s violent suppression of the revolt in the country.

The Charter of the OIC established the Organization’s objectives. Most importantly, the objectives are:

1. To enhance and consolidate the bonds of fraternity and solidarity among the Member States;
2. To safeguard and protect the common interests and support the legitimate causes of the Member States and coordinate and unify the efforts of the Member States in view of the challenges faced by the Islamic world in particular and the international community in general;
3. To respect the right of self-determination and non-interference in the domestic affairs and to respect sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of each Member State;
4. To ensure active participation of the Member States in the global political, economic and social decision-making processes to secure their common interests;
5. To reaffirm its support for the rights of peoples as stipulated in the UN Charter and international law;
6. To strengthen intra-Islamic economic and trade cooperation; in order to achieve economic integration leading to the establishment of an Islamic Common Market;
7. To exert efforts to achieve sustainable and comprehensive human development and economic well-being in Member States;
8. To protect and defend the true image of Islam, to combat defamation of Islam and encourage dialogue among civilizations and religions;
9. To enhance and develop science and technology and encourage research and cooperation among Member States in these fields;

The Charter also established several important principles:

1. All Member States commit themselves to the purpose and principles of the United Nations Charter;
2. Member States are sovereign, independent and equal in rights and obligations;
3. All Member States shall settle their disputes through peaceful means and refrain from use or threat of use of force in their relations;
4. All Member States undertake to respect national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of other Member States and shall refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of others;
5. Member States shall uphold and promote, at the national and international levels, good governance, democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law;

Historically, the greatest challenge facing the OIC is its ability to establish a consensus among its members. The OIC’s existence is based on the idea that there is a commonality among its members that is stronger than any difference: Islam. However, there are numerous other important differences among member states, from language and culture, to political history and geographical location. Depending on a member state’s location, for instance, regional issues like Kashmir, Palestine, or joining the European Union have greater importance. Even history divides member states: Some members look back to former colonial empires, while others are former colonies. OIC membership has been particularly divided in the past ten years with regard to the Sunni and Shi’a split among Muslims. Accordingly, the OIC’s credibility and potency remain limited, as most member states are members of other regional organizations thought to be more of a priority than the OIC. In addition, the OIC does not have an extensive record of accomplishments.

The main charter of the OIC includes an article stipulating the importance of promoting member states’ support for good governance, democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law both nationally and internationally. However, the Charter does not mention freedom of association specifically. In fact, this term cannot be found in any of the documents available on the OIC website.

Moreover, none of the OIC’s founding documents address partnership with independent CSOs. The Charter does, however, provide for the Independent Permanent Commission on Human Rights. The Commission is a standing body for human rights established to promote the civil, political, social and economic rights enshrined in the organization’s covenants and declarations and in universally agreed human rights instruments, in conformity with Islamic values. In addition, the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers adopted the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam in Cairo on August 5, 1990. The Cairo Declaration does not, however, recognize the freedom of association.

The concept of human rights within the OIC is somewhat limited because it was established with the aim of protecting Muslims from colonization or other external forces. It does not address human rights obligations of member states directly. However, Article 2 item 7 in Chapter I of the new OIC Charter, adopted in Dakar Summit in 2008, urges member states to “uphold and promote good governance, democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law” at the national and international levels. Moreover, Chapter VIII of the “Ten-Year Program of Action,” adopted by the Extra-ordinary Summit in Mecca in 2005, calls for greater efforts to increase political participation, achieve equity, concretize civil freedoms and social justice, and promote transparency and accountability in the OIC member States.

The OIC’s partnership with civil society is generally limited to working with some religious institutions like Al Azhar in Egypt, or the Association of Muslim Scholars, which are invited to attend and sometimes participate in the sessions of the Conference. The OIC also cooperates with the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), with which it has a project to promote religious dialogue and tolerance. Although these organizations are considered part of civil society in its broadest definition, many are directly linked to OIC member state governments, either through the appointment of their presidents or through funding. Hence, these organizations do not represent independent civil society. As for activities with CSOs, the OIC’s website does not mention any joint activities with CSOs.

In 2009, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in his meeting with the representatives of the board of directors of the Arab Turkish Organization for Science, Culture and Arts, stressed the importance of civil society’s role in achieving comprehensive development in the Islamic world. Ihsanoglu recognized that CSOs are still weak and their activities are limited in Islamic countries. He stated that the OIC would develop a new strategy to engage CSOs in order to allow for their effective contribution to discussions about issues facing Islamic nations. Until now, no concrete steps have been taken to develop such a strategy, however.

Since 2018, there appears to be movement from OIC members to establish a network between their Red Crescent and Red Cross national societies to respond to humanitarian problems and reduce human suffering in the most efficient way across the member states. Therefore, the OIC seems more intent in working on humanitarian aid and involving CSOs in those efforts than in developing consensus and creating policies among its diverse members about pressing geopolitical or human rights concerns. The OIC provided assistance to Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon in the sum of $6.3 billion in 2020 and provided food assistance to millions of Afghans before the Taliban’s takeover of the country in August 2021.

In April 2020, the OIC held an extraordinary meeting to discuss measures in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The OIC secretary-general called upon member countries “to join forces, enhance their solidarity and cooperation, and to intensify coordination between them in combating COVID-19.”

The Islamic Solidarity Fund (ISF), a subsidiary of the OIC, launched an initiative to support the least developed member states in their response to COVID-19.  On May 17, 2020, as part of this initiative, the ISF provided a number of financial grants to certain members. The ISF emphasized that it will, in coordination with the OIC General Secretariat, continue the financial assistance grant scheme to address the humanitarian, health, economic, social, and other consequences of the pandemic.

On May 16, 2020, in his speech during the opening session of the First Virtual Meeting of the Union of News Agencies (UNA) of the OIC member states, the Secretary General of the OIC noted that conventional and modern media are essential and necessary tools for the fight against the pandemic. Speaking at the virtual session, entitled “The Role of News Agencies in Supporting Efforts to Combat the Coronavirus,” the Secretary General emphasized that news agencies in OIC member countries can help stop the spread of the pandemic by disseminating reliable information, raising awareness, and debunking fake news.

International Forum on Supporting Women takes place in Samarkand (November 2023)
Samarkand hosted an International Forum on the experience of Uzbekistan and member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) about supporting women. It was attended by almost 40 foreign guests from 20 countries and representatives of the OIC, the Women Development Organization of the OIC, authorized representatives of the UN Office and its structures in Uzbekistan, heads of government agencies, representatives of the government, and CSOs dealing with family and women in OIC member states.

Bangladesh elected OIC Human Rights Council member and Mauritania becomes president (March 2023)
Bangladesh has been elected as a member of the OIC Islamic Human Rights Council. Other members from Asia are Turkey and Iran. Bangladesh has also been elected as the vice-president of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the world’s largest body of Muslim-majority nations. Other vice-presidents are Palestine and Nigeria. Mauritania was elected as president of the 57-nation OIC.

An open letter to OIC by Afghan Civil Society Coordination Centre (December 2021)

OIC chief urges improved food security in wake of pandemic (September 2021)

Afghanistan women’s rights are ‘red line’, UN rights chief tells States (August 2021)

Democracy is sliding away in Myanmar, warns top rights investigator (March 2020)

OIC to commemorate 50th anniversary on Monday (November 2019)

Istanbul hosts OIC extraordinary summit on Jerusalem issue (December 2017)

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation to hold forum in London to counter Islamophobia (July 2017)

Counter-terrorism Measures Need to Be in Line with Humanitarian Law (May 2017)

Women need to be effective partners in progress (November 2016)

OIC Organizes Roundtable Discussion on the Role of Civil Society in Electoral Processes (July 2015)

OIC issues statement on ways to fight terror and extremism (February 2015)

OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) concludes its 4th Session (February 2014)

OIC criticized for failing to stop bloodshed in Egypt (September 2013)

For first time in OIC history, humanitarian NGOs granted consultative status (November 2012)

Arab League, OIC proposals out of step with progress on freedom of expression (September 2012)

Syria suspended from the OIC (August 2012)

First International Conference on “Refugees in the Muslim World” in Turkmenistan (May 2012)

Indonesia wants to be Host of OIC Human Rights Commission (February 2012)

Organization of Islamic Cooperation agrees to strengthen collaboration efforts (November 2011)

Turkey Urges 57-country Organization of Islamic Cooperation to Aid Somalia (August 2011)