Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 11/01/2023
H.E. the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, affirmed that the General Secretariat is seeking, in coordination with the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), to dispatch a second team of Ulama to Afghanistan to continue the dialogue with the de facto authority on its measures depriving Afghan girls and women of their basic rights to education, employment and social justice, as these rights constitute a top priority for the Islamic world.
This came in the speech of the Secretary-General before the emergency meeting of the open-ended Executive Committee, which convened on 11 January 2023, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Jeddah, to discuss developments and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, in light of the recent measures imposed by the de facto authority in Afghanistan to close schools and universities to girls and women in addition to the suspension of women's work in national and international NGOs.
In his statement, the Secretary-General stressed that the OIC has been following with deep concern the developments of the unfortunate events in Afghanistan, noting that "we conveyed, through my special envoy, messages to the de facto authority in which we emphasized the importance of the government's fulfilment of its previous promises to open schools for girls in light of the solid and clear foundations of the Islamic religion that encourage education, and that resolving this issue will open the door wide for more constructive cooperation between the government and Member States and pave the way for openness to the world”.
With regard to the decision of the de facto authority in Afghanistan to suspend the work of female employees in national and international non-governmental organizations, the Secretary-General stressed that this would affect the humanitarian and relief operations carried out by a wide network of non-governmental organizations and harm the interests of the Afghan people. In this context, Mr. Hissein Taha renewed his call to the de-facto authority to reconsider this decision for the sake of the social inclusion of women and the uninterrupted continuity of the tasks of the international network for human security in Afghanistan.
The Secretary-General appreciated the statements issued by Member States, the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, the Women Development Organization, the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, the Council of Senior Ulama in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Muslim World League, which emphasized the position of Islamic Shari’a on the need for women’s education, work, and participation in public life.
The Secretary-General affirmed that the OIC will remain committed, through the efforts of the Special Envoy, to the positive dialogue with the de facto authority in Afghanistan, within the framework of the mandate granted to the Special Envoy by the Council of Foreign Ministers, to focus on issues of girls' education, women's participation in public life, combating terrorism and inclusive government in Afghanistan.
