Women’s Advisory Committee holds its 5th Meeting

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Women’s Advisory Committee holds its 5th Meeting Plans and Programs to Enable Women in the Islamic World in 2020

The Advisory Committee on Women of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held its fifth meeting on 03 November 2019, at the OIC General Secretariat’s headquarters in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two-day meeting started with a statement delivered by the Committee’s chairperson, Mrs. Helen Mary Laurence Elbodo Marshal, Minister of Women’s Affairs, National Solidarity and Humanitarian Action in the Republic of Burkina Faso, concurrently chairperson of the seventh session of the ministerial conference on women in the OIC Member States. Minister Helen noted in her statement the tangible progress achieved in the area of women’s empowerment in the OIC Member States, with some states having boosted their legislations in a way that is conducive to the promotion of women’s role and empowerment. Yet, women are still facing challenges in many other Member States. On his part, Amb. Tareg Bakheet, Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian, Cultural and Social Affairs, addressed the meeting and stated that the fifth session will discuss the results of the work of the two working groups that were set up by the fourth session, one being dedicated to the elaboration of a strategy to popularize the OIC’s Action Plan for Women’s Advancement (OPAO) and the other to finalizing the concept paper on the elaboration of the OIC’s gender policy. Ambassador Tareg Bakheet thanked the

government of Burkina Faso and Her Excellency the Minister, appreciating her tireless efforts in following up the implementation of the decisions issued by the conference, and her great keenness to follow the activities of the Advisory Committee on Women. The Assistant Secretary General also praised the efforts made by Turkey in light of its presidency of the sixth session of the Ministerial Conference for Women, its support for the Advisory Committee on Women, and the first edition of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Award for Women’s Achievements. Ambassador Bakheet also thanked the members of the Advisory Committee for attending the meeting, congratulating Ms. Aisha Soadjo Kebbouri for her appointment as Chair of the Committee at its current session, as well as both Ms. Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas, the new member of the Committee from Turkey, and Ms. Fatima Sano / Toure the new member from Burkina Faso I wish them all the best of luck and success.

The meeting’s covered preparations for participation in the proceedings of the 46th session of the committee on women’s conditions at the New York conference, in addition to discussions on the second edition of the OIC prize for women’s achievements that is meant to be awarded at the 8th session of the ministerial conference on women, scheduled to be held in the Arab Republic of Egypt, in 2020. Ambassador Tariq emphasized the commitment of the General Secretariat to make all possible efforts to support the activities of the committee and follow up the implementation of the decisions issued by the Ministerial Conference on Women. It is worth noting that the Consultative Committee for Women was established by decision of the sixth session of the Ministerial Conference on Women held in Turkey in 2016 to act as an advisory mechanism and proposes policy recommendations on issues of empowerment of women and the advancement of their status within the framework of the Ministerial Conference on Women. Ambassador Bakheet said that he was briefed on what the committee has done since its inception through the reports of its four meetings, its participation in the activities of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2018 and 2019 in New York, and its role as the selection committee for the Organization›s Prize for Women Achievements whose first edition was organized during the work of the seventh session of the Ministerial Conference for Women in Burkina Faso, stressing that this illustrates the important role of the Committee in supporting the organization›s efforts in the area of women›s empowerment in Member States. It is worth mentioning that the committee’s fifth meeting is the first one since the appointment of Ambassador Tareg Bakheet as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian, Cultural and Social Affairs. He also thanked Mrs. Esra Albayrak for the efforts made by the Committee under her chairmanship, thanks to her sincere efforts and the support of the members of the Committee, the General Secretariat and other relevant organ of the organization. Bakheet expressed his aspiration for more interaction between the members of the committee and the General Secretariat and other relevant organs of the organization to contribute more to the organization›s efforts in the field of empowering women and advancing their status in the Islamic world.