One of the very important curiosities amongst religious people is asking what is Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the functions? The Organization of Islamic Cooperation is the collective voice of the Muslim world to ensure and safeguard their interest on economic socio and political areas. The OIC has been particularly active in assisting the Muslims of Rohingya in Myanmar, offering financial assistance to victims and raising the matter with the Myanmar government.
History and Concept of the OIC
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation was established by the decision of the First Islamic Summit Conference held in Rabat on 22-25 September 1969, upon the reactions of the Islamic World, provoked by the arson attack against Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holy site in Islam and located in Israeli occupied Jerusalem, by an Australian extremist Jew on 21 August 1969.
The name of the organization was changed to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the 38th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (CFM) held in Astana on 28-30 June 2011.
The organization was previously known as Organization of the Islamic Conference. The 2011 38th session of the OIC council of foreign ministers adopted a resolution for consensus on adopting new logo and name. The OIC is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with regional offices in New York, Geneva, Brussels, Iraq, Kabul, and Indonesia.
The OIC sponsors four universities: the Islamic University of Technology, which is a subsidiary organ; the Islamic University in Uganda, which is an affiliated institution; the Islamic University of Niger, which is an affiliated institution; and the International Islamic University Malaysia, which is also an affiliated institution.
The Office of Secretariat General was established at the 1st Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in March 1970, a Secretary General was appointed and it was decided that the Secretariat would operate in Jeddah until the liberation of Jerusalem.
Functions of the Organization in Brief
- It assists member nations enhance their scientific, educational, technical, and cultural sectors. The activity of this institution is comparable to that of UNESCO, which is the United Nations Organization’s agency. ISESCO maintains close ties with UNESCO and other important United Nations Organization institutions.
- Because Arabic is the language of Islamic traditions and the Holy Quran, it focuses on teaching Arabic to non-Arabic-speaking communities around the globe.
- The organization assists member institutions in research, innovation, science, culture, and communications.
- It provides relief assistance in case of a disaster in the member countries or the Muslim minority populations living in any non-Muslim country. The ICIC has historically helped many regions of Muslims in times of disasters caused by floods and earthquakes.
- It also provides care and services to the victims of armed conflicts and taking peaceful initiatives in such conditions helps in Gaza and its help for Rohingya Muslims is a great example of such a help. This agency has made very good relations with the international organizations which are working in those areas like Red Cross and Red Crescent.
- OIC Women Development Organization (WDO) is working to be a qualitative breakthrough that achieves the aspirations of all women folk in the OIC countries irrespective of their situations
- It develops better and closer relations between OIC countries in the field. This agency is also aimed to promote contacts and technical cooperation between news agencies and member states. A better understanding of Muslims and their political and socio-economic problems.
- It also serves the causes of the Muslim countries by providing information on their advancement and attainments and by explaining their stand to world public opinion. UNA is also working on the promotion of contacts and technical cooperation between the news agencies of the OIC countries.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation Members
The OIC has up to a total number of 57 member countries with Syria recently suspended and 5 other observer countries:
Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Djibouti, Chad, Indonesia, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Palestine, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Iraq, Iran, Cameroon, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Comoros, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Maldives, Malaysia, Mali, Egypt, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somali, Sudan, Surinam, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Oman, Jordan, Yemen.
Apart from the suspended Syria, below are the list of observer countries in the membership: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central African Republic, Russia, Thailand.
