Information Department

The Information Department (ID) is responsible for supervising the media affairs of the OIC General Secretariat, communication and coordination with Member States and other bodies in media and communication sector. This includes preparation of documents for the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers, the Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs, and information affairs documents submitted to the Council Foreign Ministers, the Islamic Summit Conference and other conferences and meetings.

The ID provides media coverage of the initiatives, programs and activities of the General Secretariat, carried out inside or outside the host country. Furthermore, it publishes news about these activities on the organization's website and social media platforms. The Department also prepares and designs the organization's magazine and various publications of the General Secretariat in coordination with the departments concerned and supervises their printing.

Based on the internal rules of the OIC General Secretariat, approved at the Fifth Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (21-25/6/1974), the Information Department undertakes the following tasks (among other new tasks):

* Assisting, advising him and representing the Secretary-General when necessary.

* Communicating with OIC subsidiary organs and all other major departments within their mandates.

* Communicating with the Member States’ Governments, with prior authorization from the Secretary-General.

* Participating in, and preparing, for conferences, committees and other meetings.

* Undertaking its own administrative and financial procedures.

* Preparing the draft agenda and the report of H.E the Secretary-General on Information affairs for each session of the Islamic Conferences of Information Ministers, the Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC), Foreign Ministers, and Islamic Summits.

* Supervising the timely circulation of major documents.

* Notifying the competent authorities in the General Secretariat of the required arrangements and services.

* Assisting the chair of meeting in preparing and organizing the sessions.

* Providing conferences and committees with the documents required for their work.

* Collecting and providing information, data, statistics and documents related to its fields of work, and organizing the use thereof.

* Preparing researches related to its fields of work.

* Calling and preparing for seminars and meetings related to the department’s activities, and following up their recommendations.

* Representing the General Secretariat in conferences and meetings related to the department’s fields of work, to which the organization is invited.

* Cooperating with international and regional organizations in their fields of competence and following up on their activities.

* Directing Islamic media policy, and planning and managing its campaigns to achieve synergy among the Islamic masses, promoting spiritual and religious unity, introducing the organization and its role, and familiarization with the Muslim Ummah, its civilization, heritage, progress and achievements.

* Producing media materials and regulating their distribution in a way that supports joint Islamic media.

* Studying and researching the factors affecting Islamic media and counter-propaganda.

* Using the press and other media, including modern media and online social networks, to support Islamic media.

* Conducting a periodic survey of public opinion whenever required.

* Coordinating media work among the media entities in Member States, the General Secretariat, as well as other entities involved in the media, for the benefit of the Islamic Ummah.

* Coordinating with Union of OIC News Agencies (UNA) (formerly International Islamic News Agency), the Islamic Broadcasting Union (IBU), the Standing Committee for Media and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC), The OIC Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (IBRAF), the OIC Media Forum, and other joint Islamic action institutions.

* Providing media coverage for the activities of the Secretary-General and senior officials at the General Secretariat and the various activities of the General Secretariat.

* Communicating with the Media in Member and Non-Member States.

* Establishing cooperation partnerships with media institutions, research and studies centers and universities to address the phenomenon of Islamophobia in the media.

* Issuing press releases in coordination with the relevant departments, following up the process of translating them into the organization’s three languages (Arabic, English and French), sending them electronically to media outlets around the world and following up the process of publishing them on OIC website.

* Conducting press conferences and media interviews with the Secretary-General and senior officials of the organization for Islamic and foreign media.

* Issuing various publications in the OIC three languages.

* Periodic publication of the OIC Magazine in Arabic, English and French.

* Preparing a daily electronic bulletin regarding the news about the OIC.

* Preparing a daily news briefing on international news of interest to the OIC.

* Issuing a weekly electronic newsletter on the activities of the OIC and its affiliated institutions and circulating it to various subscribers from media, governmental, private agency and individuals.

* Designing and directing the OIC publications, and coordinating with printing houses regarding their printing.

* Supervising the electronic archiving of OIC photos and media products.

* Developing the database related to the media, media professionals and authors in the Member States and abroad (News Agencies, Satellite Channels, Newspapers and Magazines, Radio Stations, Electronic Press).

The Department’s files:

The Information Department supervises the preparation of the following conference documents:

* The Islamic Conference of Information Ministers.

* The Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs).

* Resolutions on information affairs submitted to the Council of Foreign Ministers.

* Resolutions on information affairs submitted to the Islamic Summit Conference.

The ID supervises the following activities and files:

Institutional communication with Ministries and Media Organizations

The Department communicates with the OIC affiliated organizations, whether in the media or other sectors, and with Ministries of Information and Communication in Member States and other institutions to follow-up on the implementation of related resolutions. It also seeks to collect databases and information on media affairs, and to consult on the organization of meetings, forums and workshops in the field of information.

Multimedia production and dissemination

Production and dissemination of multimedia materials such as short videos within the Department to benefit from the video and photo recordings provided by the OIC live streaming platform service that are used in multimedia production regarding specific activities undertaken by the organization and published on its website and social networks.

Posting on social networks

The Department promotes the use of social networks to highlight the organization’s causes and publish its news and press releases, in order to increase the accessibility to OIC News and followers via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram...

Media Monitoring

The ID monitors the news and reports published about the OIC, the OIC press releases, and OIC efforts to implement its programs. This monitoring helps enlightening OIC officials about news and articles published by journalists and opinion writers about the organization and its efforts to defend the causes of Muslim peoples around the world.

Publications

The Department publishes the Organization's magazine periodically, in addition to various publications on specific dossiers in the political, humanitarian, cultural, social, media, women, science and technology and other fields, which fall within the scope of the OIC’s work.

Department’s activities

* The 12th Islamic Conference of Information Ministers, Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, October 21-22, 2022.

* Launching a large-scale media awareness campaign, starting from March 2020, for several months, under the hashtag: (#OIC_States_Confront COVID -19).

* Organizing a training course on mobile journalism for social media and Infographic platforms, from 14 to 18 April 2019 at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, in partnership between the Information Department and Dozan Company in Riyadh.

* The Eleventh session of the Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC), in Dakar, Republic of Senegal, on May 14-15, 2018 (https://oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=99&p_ref=42&lan=ar).

* Organizing a workshop on “The Role of Social Media in Supporting the Work of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation” on November 15, 2018 at the OIC headquarters,

with the participation of 32 tweeters and influencers on social media from Member States and 11 lecturers from various Member States and OIC institutions.

* The 11th Islamic Conference of Information Ministers, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, December 21, 2016 (https://oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=95 HYPERLINK "https://oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=95&p_ref=38&lan=ar"& HYPERLINK "https://oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=95&p_ref=38&lan=ar"p_ref=38 HYPERLINK "https://oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=95&p_ref=38&lan=ar"& HYPERLINK "https://oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=95&p_ref=38&lan=ar"lan=ar).