OIC Press Release

The OIC Expert Group entrusted with the task of updating the mechanisms for the Islamic States Information Strategy identifying priority items in the OIC Information Plan and exploring ways to activate it, started its meeting on Saturday 7 of Rajab 1420H (16 October 1999), at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah.

The meeting is being held in implementation of a resolution issued by the First Meeting of the Ministerial Follow-up Committee which was set up by the Fourth Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers, and which convened in Dakar, capital of Senegal, on 25 and 26 Safar 1420H (9-10 June 1999). The Follow-up Committee had recommended that a task group comprised of its own Member States be entrusted with updating the mechanisms of the OIC Information Strategy so that it may keep abreast of developments witnessed by the information and communications technologies, and be able to face up to the challenges posed by these developments for the Islamic Ummah.

In a statement delivered on behalf of the OIC Secretary General, Dr. Azeddine Laraki, Ambassador Ibrahim Auf, Assistant Secretary General for Information and Cultural and Social Affairs welcomed the work group members and paid tribute to them for their keen interest in keeping pace with the developments witnessed in the field of Information and Communications Technologies.

In this context, Dr. Laraki pointed out that the world today is going through a massive revolution and overwhelming changes brought about by the Internet and its ramification, the Intranet, among other components already crowding the cyberspace and speeding up communications and the exchange of news and information, a reality which commands a prompt and accurate interaction on our part. The Secretary General also evoked the situation of the two OIC organs specializing in information, namely the Islamic States Broadcasting Organization (ISBO) and the International Islamic News Agency (IINA). He laid particular emphasis on the need to develop their mechanisms through providing them with enhanced material and human resources. He also pointed to the need to reconsider the Member States' information plans, policies and satellite channels, as well as to evolve rules and fresh conceptions such as to enable us to acquire earn a place in cyberspace and make our own contribution to this scientific revolution, and have thus an impact on events and on the emergence of a new type of interaction between cultures and civilizations.

Laraki also called upon Member States to turn information and communications into a common denominator in their economic, cultural and social policies and to boost their media whose action remains rather limited on account of the lack of necessary financial resources. Greater results would then be possible at the level of confirming our presence in the international arena to correct the image of Islam and face up to the fallacious and ill-intentioned accusations unjustly laid at the doorstep of Muslims.

As for the Chairman of the meeting Dr. Amadou Diouf, Advisor to the Minister of Information in the Republic of Senegal, he referred in his statement to the fact that what is required is the evolvement of a practical Islamic information and communication strategy which would take into consideration the progress achieved in the various technological spheres.

The meeting was attended by the States members of the Ministerial Follow-up Committee, namely: The Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Tunisia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Republic of Senegal, the State of Palestine, and the Arab Republic of Egypt. Were absent from the meeting the delegates of the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman and Malaysia. The sessions of the Working Group assigned to update the strategies of Islamic States Information Strategy, are to continue until 9 Rajab 1420H (18 October 1999). The Sessions will examine the working documents submitted to the meeting and identify priority items in the Information Plan for effective implementation.

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