The Advancement of Women in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1901091rKeywords:
women empowerment, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, gender, gender equality, women rightsAbstract
This article examines the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s OIC perspective on the advancement of women and how it can be implemented, given the importance of this development at the civilizational level. And, it explains the OIC’s perspective on: “gender and women’s empowerment”, in the framework of its Islamic values and by comparing it with the secular perspective. By monitoring the OIC’s programmes, projects, agreements and plans related to women’s issues and empowerment. Focusing on the OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW 2016) and its objectives. Also, the mechanisms for implementation and measurement of OPAAW, especially with the establishment of a specialised organisation for women’s affairs in 2020, the Women Development Organisation WDO. Then, the article analyse the aspects of the progress achieved, in some OIC member states under different circumstances. The descriptive analytical approach is used to explore the perspective on women’s empowerment. Sufficient data on the mechanisms and instruments for OIC implementing the OPAAW were collected and the statistics obtained were interpreted.
References
As-Souyoutti, Jalāl al-Dīn. 1983. Al-Ashbahu wal Naza’ir. Cairo: Dar Al-Kutub Al-’ Al-.
Batliwala, Srilatha. 2007. “Taking the Power out of Empowerment: An Experiential Account.” Development in Practice 17, no. 4/5: 557-565. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520701469559
Blitt, Robert C. 2019. “The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Response to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Rights: A Challenge to Equal¬ity and Nondiscrimination under International Law.” Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems 28, no. 1: 89-187. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3312845
Carnegie. 2024. “Living Through Hell: Sudanese Women Pay the Highest Price of War.” March 26, 2024. https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2024/03/living-through-hell-sudanese-women-pay-the-highest-price-of-war?lang=en
Cornwall, Andrea. 2016. “Women’s empowerment: What works?” Journal of International Development 28, no. 3: 342-359. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3210
ESCWA. n.d. “Empowering women and girls.” https://www.unescwa.org/sd-glossary/women%E2%80%99s-empowerment
Gomaa, Ali. 2016. “Fatwa on gender reassignment for the treatment of gender dysphoria.” November 7, 2016. https://shorturl.at/ITb9F
Kayaoglu, Turan. 2017. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation: Politics, Problems, and Potential. London: Routledge.
Kayaoglu, Turan. 2020. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Declaration on Human Rights: Promises and Pitfalls. Doha: Brookings Doha Centre.
OIC. 1990. “The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam 1990.” https://elearning.icrc.org/detention/en/story_content/external_files/Human%20Rights%20in%20Islam%20(1990).pdf
OIC. 2016. “OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW).” https://www.OIC-oci.org/upload/documents/opaaw/opaaw_en.pdf
OIC. 2023. “The ‘Women in Islam: Status and Empowerment’ Conference: Secretary-General Affirms OIC’s Commitment to Defending the Rights of Muslim Women”. November 6, 2023. https://www.oic-oci.org/topic/?t_id=39880&t_ref=26741&lan=en
Open global rights. 2021. “The forgotten Islamic human rights document.” September 2021. https://www.openglobalrights.org/the-forgotten-islamic-human-rights-document/
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). 2019. “Sharia, the Cairo Declaration and the Euro¬pean Convention on Human Rights, Resolution 2253.” https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-fr.asp?fileid=25353&lang=fr
Saudi Press Agency. 2021. “Women is a fundamental pillar in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.” March 8, 2021. https://www.spa.gov.sa/2197982
Saudi Press Agency. 2023. “The International Conference on Women in Islam “Status and Empowerment” concludes its work in Jeddah.” November 3, 2023, https://www.spa.gov.sa/N1993669
Al-Misiri, AbdelWahab. 2010. The Woman Question Between Liberation and Focusing on the Female. Cairo: Nahdat Misr.
Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), Human Rights Standards and Institutions in OIC Member States. 2019. https://www.academia.edu/43456160/Human_Rights_Standards_and_Institutions_in_OIC_Member_States
Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC). 2021. “OIC WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2021.“ https://sesricdiag.blob.core.windows.net/sesric-site-blob/files/article/769.pdf
Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC). 2016. “State of Gender in OIC Countries: Prospects and Challenges.” https://sesricdiag.blob.core.windows.net/sesric-site-blob/files/article/556.pdf
The Holy Quran.
The World Bank. 2023. “Women’s & Girls’ Empowerment.” December 12, 2023. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender/brief/womens-girls-empowerment
UN WOMEN. n.d. “Areas of work and programmes: Women’s Economic Empowerment.” https://arabstates.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/areas-of-work-and-programmes
UN. n.d. “The Gender equality.” https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/gender-equality#:~:text=UN%20Women%20focuses%20on%20four,peace%20processes%20and%20security%20efforts
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Politics and Religion Journal

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.