Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 17/02/2022
The OIC General Secretariat participated with a high-level delegation in the third Extraordinary Ministerial Council meeting of the Women Development Organization (WDO) in OIC Member States, which was held virtually on 16 February 2022.
The meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr. Maya Morsi, President of the National Council for Women in the Arab Republic of Egypt, Chair of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Women, and Chair of the Ministerial Council of the Women Development Organization. Dr. Morsi in her opening statement announced the appointment of Dr. Afnan Abdullah Al-Shuaiby as the maiden Executive Director of the Women Development Organization (WDO), the OIC’s newly established specialized institution in charge of women empowerment and development, based in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt.
In his statement during the opening session, delivered on his behalf by the Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs, Dr. Ahmad Kawesa Sengendo, the OIC Secretary-General H.E. Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha congratulated the newly appointed Executive Director, and wished her every success in leading this very important specialized institution of the OIC.
In his statement, the Secretary-General stressed that the OIC greatly relies on the role of the WDO as a major contributor to women’s empowerment in the Member States. He said, “With the appointment of its Executive Director, the OIC General Secretariat is certain that this Organization will bring about a qualitative breakthrough that fulfills the aspirations of all women in the Member States, regardless of their conditions”.
For her part, the new Executive Director of the WDO thanked the Organization’s Member States for the confidence reposed in her.
A national of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Afnan brings to the position more than two decades of experience and a successful track record of providing fiscal, strategic, and operational leadership in uniquely challenging situations in Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab world, the UK, and the US.
