The General Secretariat of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy IIFA) held a meeting with the Women’s Development Organization (WDO) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Monday, 10 Ramadan 1443H corresponding to 11 April 2022G. The meeting discussed the issue of women’s advancement and empowerment in the member countries of the OIC in the main priority areas identified in the organization’s work program for the year 2025. The meeting also touched on aspects of cooperation and coordination between the Academy and the Organization for the Development of Women in areas of common interest, especially those that have a direct relationship to the Academy’s competencies and its Shariah and scientific role within the framework of the OIC.

Women receive a great deal of attention and care in the agenda of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its subsidiary and specialized organs, to enable them to participate in the desired positive contribution in the advancement of peoples, and to achieve the desired social and economic development for the societies of the OIC member states in particular and the Muslim communities in general.

During the meeting, His Excellency Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy, pointed out the importance of the role that the Women Development Organization should play, whether at the level of the daily challenges that women experience in social, economic and political life, or at the level of opportunities that should be exploited to enable women to contribute to drive development. His Excellency emphasized that the teachings of the true Islamic religion guaranteed women all the political, economic, social, educational and cultural rights that were guaranteed to the man.

His Excellency added that the Islamic religion has always been a forerunner to giving women all their Shariah and civil rights, such as their right to education, health and work, which means that there is no relationship between Islam and a set of practices and abuses that demean women, infringe on their rights, and exclude them. In order to correct those practices and customs that are contrary to the values, principles and teachings of Islam, the Academy issued a number of resolutions and recommendations that include a clear statement of women’s rights and duties, and strongly condemn all forms of violence, humiliation and assault against women. His Excellency concluded by emphasizing the Academy’s full readiness to support the efforts of the Women’s Development Organization, and to enhance coordination and cooperation with it through the Women and Family Affairs Department in the Academy.

For her part, Counsellor Fatima Al-Zahra Hassan, Director of the Programs, Policies and Intergovernmental Support Department at WDO, expressed her deep gratitude for this opportunity to meet with representatives of the Academy, led by His Excellency the Secretary General, and also expressed her great admiration for the work provided by the Academy in the field of supporting and strengthening the role and status of women in Muslim countries and communities by presenting comprehensive proposals based on the teachings of our true Islamic religion and raising Muslims’ awareness of them. She added that the results reached by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the great progress it has achieved in the field of empowering women in the Muslim world remains on the one hand incomplete, and on the other hand it is governed by disparity between one country and another. While we find countries that have made great strides in the process of empowering women socially and economically, we find other countries that still need to make more efforts to empower women, and to overcome many practices and customs that contradict the values and principles of Islam.

Her Excellency concluded her speech with the importance of concerted efforts between the Academy and the WDO, especially that the Academy represents the supreme Shariah reference for the member states of the OIC, which makes its resolutions and recommendations acceptable and appreciated by all Muslim countries and Muslim communities. The Counsellor took advantage of the occasion and invited the Academy to partner with the WDO in the activities of the International Family Day, which falls on May 15th.

The meeting was attended from the WDO side by Ms. Asma Hassan, Senior Strategic Partnerships Officer, Ms. Rabiato Ahmed, Senior Program Officer, and Ms. Amira Fadel, Program Officer. And from the Academy’s side by Mrs. Sarah Hussein Amjad, Director of the Department of Family, Women, Childhood and Elderly Affairs, Mr. Mohamed Al-Mondher El-Chouk, Director of the Cabinet Affairs and Protocol Department, Dr. Abdel Qaher Qamar, Director of the Research and Studies Department, Mr. Abdullah Al-Tamimi, Director of the Sessions and Conferences Department, and Mr. Mourad TLiLi, Adviser to His Excellency the Secretary General for Media Affairs.