The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, opened on Saturday 18th April 2009, the 12th Meeting of the Governmental Group of Experts on the Situation of Muslim Minorities in non-OIC Member States held at the headquarters of the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah.

The Secretary General stated in a speech before the representatives of Muslim minorities and Member States representatives that since he took over as OIC Secretary General, he devoted a great deal of his time and energy to building closer relations between Muslim minorities outside non-OIC Member States on the one hand and the OIC Member States on the other. He pointed out that Muslim minorities constitute one third of the total number of Muslims across the world, representing an estimated half a billion people.

Ihsanoglu pointed up the myriad initiatives he undertook to resolve the issues besetting Muslim minorities in the Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand, Western Thrace in Greece, and the Caucasus region as well as other regions of the world.

He continued by affirming that the elaborate reports which he has submitted to the Islamic meetings at the summit and ministerial levels prominently incorporate Muslim minority issues. He explained that he has dispatched special envoys to a number of countries hosting Muslim minorities over the past years in order to get a first-hand appreciation of the conditions of Muslims, interact with them, and identify their needs. The OIC, he added, is also involved in the peace efforts underway in both the Philippines and Thailand. The Secretary General indicated that he had appointed Mr. Sayed Kassim El-Masri as special envoy for peace in Southern Philippines with the task working out a solution to the issues of Muslims in the southern part of the country.

The Secretary General appealed to the OIC Member States to accord greater importance to Muslim minority issues in non-Member States through their bilateral relations with these countries to help these minorities preserve their rights and interests. He further urged the OIC Member States to contribute more effectively in the endeavors of the Group of Experts by showing greater dedication in attending the Group's meetings, granting Muslim minorities the attention they ought to have, and providing them with the required support and assistance.