RESOLUTION No. 3/11-C (IS) ON SOCIAL ISSUES

- The 11th Session of the Islamic Summit Conference (Session of the Islamic Ummah in the 21st Century) held in Dakar, Republic of Senegal 6-7 Jumadi Al-Awal 1429H (13-14 March, 2008)

1. Recalling the resolutions adopted by the Islamic Summit Conferences and other Islamic Conferences, in particular the 10th Ordinary and the 3rd Extraordinary Sessions of the Islamic Summit Conferences, the 34th Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM), the 5th Session of the Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers (ICCM), and the 8th Session of COMIAC;
2. Abiding by Resolution No. 13/31-P on the Rationalization of Islamic Resolutions and Agenda Items adopted by the 31st Session ICFM, held in Istanbul, Turkey;
3. Conscious of the growing need for Muslims throughout the world to promote Islamic revival and evolve societies grounded in the Islamic principles of peace, justice and equality for all human beings;
4. Having taken note of the fact that women and children are most vulnerable parts of the societies during conflicts and wars as well as occupation period, Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the following subjects:

1. Promoting Women’s status in OIC
1. Recalling the OIC’s obligations towards international conventions and instruments, particularly those related to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (the Fourth World Conference on Women 1995), and Beijing + 5 and recommendations made in the 1st Conference on “Women’s Role in the Development of OIC Member States” in Istanbul as well as within the OIC framework of the ten year plan of action;
2. Reiterating the OIC’s commitment in addressing a range of difficulties envisaged by women and reducing inequalities between women and men, and between particular groups of women in the OIC Member States, which earmarks the visionary and comprehensive strategy of the OIC to advance the status of women;
3. Acknowledging the Istanbul Conference outcomes, i.e. the OIC vision on the development of women which is based on social justice, distinctive treatment of women, female education and promoting economic activities of the women guided by the lofty teachings of Islam;
4. Emphasizing the importance of women, children and family unit in the preservation of social stability and the need for establishment of a balanced role for them in the society and avoiding any extremism in this issue;
5. Reaffirming a peaceful, stable and enabling political, social and economic environment, as the essential foundation that will enable OIC Member States to give adequate priority to women promotion;
6. Expressing deep concern over all forms of coercion and violence practiced against women specially further expansion of violence industry in the today’s world and stressing the need for campaign effectively with the smuggling of women and children and the significance of adoption of appropriate mechanisms to stop the current oppressive trends against women and children and support the victims;
7. Recalling the importance of the international humanitarian law specially the provisions pertaining to the prohibition of military attacks against civilians and the necessity for protecting the victims of such wars particularly women and children;
8. Reaffirming also that neglecting to women status constitutes a violation of human dignity and therefore requires the adoption of urgent measures at OIC for special attention and consideration;
9. Stressing the significant role of education in the empowerment of women, eradication of poverty, reduction of vulnerabilities, and enhancement of women’s contribution in the development and decision making process;

   (B) Expressing concern that women and girls are disproportionately affected by hunger, food insecurity, poverty, and inequity in part as a result of discrimination:

1. Urges the OIC Member States to provide women with better opportunities through enacting and consolidating laws that empower women and provide them with greater role in the development of Muslim society in various fields. With regard to the fact that women, as the most vulnerable group, deserve special treatment in formulating policies for them in national development strategies in the Muslim world, thus special attention to them is indispensable;
2. Recommends all OIC Member States to launch efforts to cover the various aspects of the women in their legislative and decision making processes and mobilize civil societies in the course of implementation of the programs and activities pertaining to the protection and promotion of the status of women;
3. Considers that poverty among women has to be alleviated to elevate them into equally productive and proactive partners of men in the Muslim world, formulating a roadmap to rectify those misperceptions emanating from the false attribution of women’s problems and social ills in the Muslim societies to Islam;
4. Ensures the consideration of women’s capabilities in different aspects of development of the OIC Member States and also the facilitation of women’s access to their political, economic, social, cultural, educational, health and employment rights;
5. Acknowledges that improvement of the conditions of women in the OIC Member States, in partnership with women, their communities and private sector is essential. Therefore, in recognition of the special treatment that Islam adheres to women, specific actions have to be taken to increase opportunities for women to participate proactively in the economic, social, political and cultural sectors of society;
6. Recommends that governments of the OIC Member States to adopt necessary measures to ensure social justice, respect for women’s social status and dignity, respect for women’s rights to social security and decent jobs and provide support for the women who are guardians for their families. In this regard, it is also recommended that the parliaments of the OIC Member States ratify necessary laws to alleviate women’s social and economic deprivation and improve their material and spiritual status;
7. Calls the parliaments of the OIC Member States to pass necessary laws to campaign smuggling, sexual abuse of women, exploitation of women’s labor, pornography and abuse of women for commercial purposes by the media and protect the victims of such cases, recalling women’s high moral and spiritual status and dignity and their right to decent life;
8. Requests the OIC Member States to adopt appropriate measures to promote Islamic principles for reinforcing and consolidating the foundations of the family unit and empowerment of women;
9. Urges the governments of the OIC Member States to adopt the necessary policies and programs for promoting the level of education of women and girls through providing uncomplicated and free access to literary programs and also providing uncomplicated and free access to literary programs and also providing easy, inexpensive and equal access to higher education and removal of any possible draw backs in this field and ensure, through legislation, women’s access to advanced technologies including ICT in order to promote their role in the decision making and development process;
10. Recalls the OIC Member States, due to the dangerous implications of the recent conflicts in the region including those in the occupied Palestinian lands, Iraq and Afghanistan and also the recent Israeli invasion against Lebanon, to hold regional expert meetings to develop some directives to support women and girls in military conflicts and submit the results to the relevant international organizations as well as condemning the attacks by Ghods Occupying Regime to Palestine, killing innocent women and children;
11. Requests the academic and research institutes of the OIC Member States to work together to address the existing problem of inconsistencies in the international instruments on women’s human rights and the need for observance of cultural diversity and religious, historical, social and indigenous backgrounds of nations in the formulation of women’s Islamic human rights instruments;
12. Verifies that Muslim women have played very significant role in various aspects of life from the very early days of Islam. Thus it has been recognized that they have constructively contributed to the growth of industrial, agricultural and service sectors as well as their engagement in the political, social and cultural activities in many Muslim countries.
13. Reiterates that the achievement of greater gender balance in decision-making in the health and social sectors will result to the increase of the number of women participating in leadership roles.