The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is an international organization grouping fifty seven States which have decided to pool their resources together, combine their efforts and speak with one voice to safeguard the interests and secure the progress and well-being of their peoples and of all Muslims in the world.

The Organization was established in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, on 12 Rajab 1389H (25 September 1969) when the First meeting of the leaders of the Islamic world was held in the wake of the criminal Zionist attempt to burn down the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque on 21 August 1969 in the occupied city of Al-Quds.

Six months after that historic event, i.e. in Muharram 1390H (March 1970), the First Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers was held in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during which the OIC General Secretariat was established to ensure coordination among Member States. The Conference appointed a Secretary General for the Organization and chose Jeddah as the city to house its temporary Headquarters pending the liberation of Al-Quds Al-Sharif to which the General Secretariat will then be transferred, as the Permanent seat of the Organization.

Under the Charter, the Organization aims to:

1. Strengthen:

a) Islamic solidarity among Member States:

b) Cooperation in the political, economic, social, cultural and scientific fields:

c) The struggle of all Muslim people to safeguard their dignity, independence and nantional rights.

2. Coordinate action to:

a) Safeguard the Holy Places;

b) Support the struggle of the Palestinian people and assist them in recovering their rights and liberating their occupied territories.

3. Work to:

a) Eliminate racial discrimination and all forms of colonialism;

b) Create a favourable atmosphere for the promotion of cooperation and understanding between Member States and other countries.

The Charter also enumerates the principles governing OIC activities, namely:

1. Full equality among Member States;

2. Observation of the right to self-determination and non-interference in the internal affairs of Member States;

3. Observation of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of each State;

4. The settlement of any dispute that might arise among Member States by peaceful means such as negotiations, mediation, conciliation and arbitration;

5. A pledge to refrain, in relations among Member States, from resorting to force or threatening to resort to the use of force against the unity and territorial integrity or the political independence of any one of them;

In order to coordinate and boost its action, align its stands, and achieve concrete results in various fields of cooperation, political, economic, cultural, social, spiritual and scientific among Member States, the OIC Summit and Ministerial Conferences have created different committees including:

-- The Al-Quds Committee,

-- The Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC),

-- The Standing Committee for Economic and Trade Cooperation (COMCEC),

-- The Standing Committee for Scientific and Technical Cooperation (COMSTECH),

-- The Islamic Commission on Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs.

The secondary organs and institutions working toward the achievement of the OIC objectives, cover cultural, scientific, economic, legal, financial, sports, technological, educational, media, vocational, social and humanitarian areas. Depending on their degree of autonomy vis-a-vis the parent organization, they are classified as subsidiary organs , specialized institutions and affiliated institutions.

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