Two-day meeting held at OIC General Secretariat on new steps to activate OIC Action Plan for the Advancement of Women

Date: 03/11/2015

An “Intergovernmental Experts Group” meeting kicked off on Tuesday 3rd November 2015 at the OIC’s General Secretariat in Jeddah to assess the implementation of the “OIC Action Plan for the Advancement of Women” (OPAAW). Nora Al-Hajri, Head of the Productive Families Department at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in Qatar, and who chaired the meeting, said that women in OIC Member States will be facing many challenges in the coming period. She also mentioned that the first assessment meeting aims to consider the feasibility of the OPAAW, particularly its implementation. Dr. Abdulaziz Alsebail, Director General of the OIC Cabinet and Chief Adviser to the OIC Secretary General, delivered a speech on behalf of OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani. In the speech, Madani reiterated that after six years since the plan was adopted and following five ministerial conferences on women, new steps are necessary. This, he said, includes an evaluative study identifying the added value that the plan would bring to the OIC’s work in relation to the advancement of women. Madani also called for assessing the contributions of stakeholders which include the OIC’s Member States, subsidiary, specialized and affiliated organizations, and civil society organizations. The Secretary General also underlined the importance of ratifying the “Statute of the Women Development Organization”—a specialized OIC organization based in Cairo, Egypt. The agenda of the “Intergovernmental Experts Group” meeting for assessing the OPAAW includes a presentation on the “State of Gender and Family Well-Being in OIC Member Countries,” the outline of the revised OPAAW plan, results of an assessment of ministerial meetings on women, and its role in the advancement of women in Member States. It is expected that the closing session of the meeting will provide a comprehensive vision for the advancement of women, and the role assigned to women in the development process, especially in light of challenges such as illiteracy, lack of training, poor healthcare, domestic violence against women, and armed conflicts and instability in some Member States.

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