Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 01/10/2015
The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iyad Ameen Madani announced the establishment of a Messaging Center at the General Secretariat that aims at countering extremist discourse and propaganda. This was made by the Secretary General during his statement at the Leaders’ Summit on Countering ISIL and Violent Extremism, which was opened by US President Barack Obama at the UNGA on 29 September 2015.
Secretary General Madani said that the Messaging Center is part of OIC’s continued efforts and deepened commitment in the fight for dismantling extreme discourse. The International Islamic Fiqh Academy would be actively contributing to this Center by providing clear and unambiguous interpretation of Islamic texts.
Mr. Madani also indicated that the advent of cyber terrorism through the utilization of new information and communication technologies by terrorist groups for the purpose of recruitment and incitement to terrorism is another issue of prime concern for OIC. To tackle this, the OIC gathered experts on Cyber Security from the Member States and initiated the process of establishing an OIC Center for Cyber Security, which would focus on capacity building of its Member States in dealing with Cyber Terrorism.
Other initiatives by the OIC to counter extremist discourse include organizing, together with its specialized institution ISESCO and the Global Counter Terrorism Forum (GCTF), a conference on fighting violent extremism through education, to be held in December this year in Rabat, Morocco. The OIC General Secretariat is also working on a joint Symposium with the UN Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) on implementing provisions of Global Strategy to counter Terrorism for OIC Member States.
Mr. Madani reiterated that we must address the multifaceted dimensions of the phenomenon of violent extremism. He concluded his statement by saying that there is a lot that needs to be done and could be done and that the OIC stands at the forefront in this fight.
