OIC Press Release

H.E. the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Dr.Abdelouahed Belkeziz, expressed deep appreciation and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, in recognition of His Majesty's consistent support of the OIC by providing it with all necessary resources to enable it to optimally fulfill its mission.

The Secretary-General's remarks came at the opening of his speech before the meeting ofthe Intergovernmental Group of Experts (IGGE) on Restructuring the OIC General Secretariat, which inaugurated its proceedings on Saturday 24 Shawwal 1423H (28 December 2002)—this being the first meeting to be organized at the new provisional headquarters of the OIC General Secretariat, which the Government of the Kingdom has kindly put at its disposal until the building of a permanent headquarters for the General Secretariat in Jeddah.

In his speech, the Secretary-General reviewed the history of the reform, management, and assessment of OIC work, starting from 1990 until the new Malaysian initiative of June 2000 proposed during the Twenty-seventh Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers. At that time, an open-ended committee was constituted for the purpose, which was composed of Malaysia, the OIC General Secretariat, the Islamic Development Bank, as well as the host state (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and the Chair of the Ninth Islamic Summit (Qatar). His Excellency pointed out that the general framework for the meetings of this committee and the required reform derives its approach from the OIC Charter and its objectives, which are at the same time the goals and the working framework. Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz explained that the application of the Charter requires the creation of a new dynamism in implementation methods and mechanisms, which in his view can be narrowed down to three elements:

-- Reviewing the criteria for recruitment of human resources in terms of the academic and professional qualifications that must be met by candidates for OIC posts in addition to the need to satisfy training and habilitation requirements.

-- Rationalizing the administration and its management to ensure efficiency and maximum utilization of the talents and skills of OIC employees by selecting the right person for the right position and creating incentives to reward work, productivity, creativity, and initiative.

-- Availability of the necessary and adequate financial resources to expend on the above.

The Secretary-General emphasized the need to give priority to tools and resources which contribute to deepening the concept of joint Islamic security as well as interaction with the other in the areas of media, information, and communication. These must be linked with the common strategic and crucial interests of the Islamic Ummah, with a view to strengthening the Islamic front and repel danger away from Islam, its civilization, and the Islamic Member States. He added that the OIC and its organs must play an effective and decisive role in this respect because it is the Islamic institution habilitated to do so at the present moment.

H.E. Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz proposed that in considering the reform of the OIC, the participants should focus on several matters, primarily the following:

-- The importance and seriousness of the mission entrusted to the meeting as it affects the work of the OIC for many years to come.

-- To address all issues related to what is expected of the OIC.

-- To adopt a forward-looking view and formulate objective proposals on the program of action, as if the OIC did not have a financial crisis, and on procedures for management of its work, as if the financial crisis was a permanent one.

At the conclusion of his speech, the OIC Secretary-General urged the Intergovernmental Group of Experts to enrich the ideas put forward by the Malaysians experts so that the desired structural reform can be initiated and so as to raise the Organization to the level of analogous world governmental organizations and turn it into a veritable center for Islamic cooperation and solidarity in all political, economic, information, cultural, and social spheres. Ultimately, such work should enable the OIC to overcome the challenges that face the Islamic Ummah and the prejudiced campaigns waged against it.