Within the process of transformation of the vision, structures and activities of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and in line with the stipulations of the new OIC Charter and OIC Ten Year Program of Action, an informal advisory panel appointed by the Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu held its first consultative meeting today at the OIC General Secretariat`s headquarters in Jeddah under the chairmanship of the Secretary General in order to devise the conceptual framework with regard to the establishment of an independent and permanent human rights commission within the OIC.

It is foreseen that the Secretary General will report the suggestions of the advisory panel to the consideration of the intergovernmental expert group which will meet to finalize the draft statute of this new OIC organ and submit it to the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) for its approval.

Establishment of an independent human rights body by the OIC member states is considered to be one of the major steps in the transformation process of the OIC and as the concrete evidence of the commitment of the Organization to promote and uphold the universal values of human rights.