OIC Secretary General at 40th Session of the PFC: The number of States which never paid their contributions dropped from 21 to 5 States

Date: 20/12/2011

The Fortieth Session of the Permanent Finance Committee (PFC) kicked off at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah today, Monday, 19 December 2011. The OIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in his opening speech at the meeting which lasts until Wednesday, 21 December 2011, noted that the OIC Member States have understood that the new continued achievements of the OIC are possible thanks to the fact that it undertakes its duties with a great deal of responsibility. The Member States have become regularly paying their contributions to finance the Organization’s activities, he added. The Secretary General pointed out in his speech, which was presented on his behalf by Ambassador Hameed A. Opeloyeru, Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs, that the number of States which never paid their contributions has dropped from 21 to 5 States only, emphasizing that the Member States increased interest in the Organization and its activities is demonstrated by the willingness of many of them to host the Organization’s official meetings or to take initiatives of sponsoring conferences relevant to OIC’s activities. The Secretary General added that our activities have grown to the extent that major academic, intellectual, and media institutions in the West seek to develop contacts with us. Thus, we engaged, in this context, to intensify our contacts and activities with the European Union and other European institutions in general and with the European countries for the completion of the final stages of the opening of the OIC’s office in Brussels. You are certainly aware of the tensions affecting the relations between the two parties due the rampant spread of Islamophobia in the West and the necessity to put an end to hatred campaigns targeting Islam and Muslims and to counter them, he noted. Ihsanoglu clarified that when he assumed office as Secretary General in 2005, the General Secretariat had 167 staff members. Today, that number has risen to 203. It is very likely that the number would reach 240 by 2012. Concerning the educational level of these staff members, the number of doctorate degree holders has increased from 9 to 19, while the number of master degree holders climbed from 31 to 55. This is a clear indication of the improved quality of the General Secretariat staff. Age-wise, the number of the General Secretariat’s between the age of 30 and 39 has increased from 26 to 49, while ages between 40 and 49 increased from 53 to 59 staff members. He said that despite the fact that the budget of the OIC has increased during the last seven years, the increase in its responsibilities and role has proven the need for further budget increase, noting that the OIC General Secretariat has introduced in this year’s proposed budget a modest 5% increase to meet the annual increments and other staff entitlement and benefits.

Other Press

No press releases assigned to this case yet.