Photo credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation
Abbreviation
OIC
Summary
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) aims to be the collective voice of the Muslim world and to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world while promoting international peace. The Organization was established at a summit in Rabat, Morocco in 1969. The OIC Charter mandates the organization to cooperate in combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations. In 1999, the OIC adopted the Convention on Combating Terrorism, which rejects all forms of terrorism and which calls for the protection of human rights and respect for international law and the principles of peace and cooperation. The OIC Ten-Year Program of Action (September 2005) embodies the OIC’s counterterrorism objectives. The Program directs OIC member nations to emphasize the condemnation of terrorism in all forms, and to reject justifications and rationalizations for terrorism and to recognize it as distinct from religion, race, color, nationality, and legitimate resistance to foreign occupation. The Ten-Year Program instructs member states to engage in comprehensive qualitative revisions of national laws to criminalize all terrorist actions, including support, finance, and instigation of terrorist actions. Additionally, the Program affirms the OIC’s commitment to the Convention on Combating Terrorism and to active participation in international counterterrorism efforts.
Members
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has 57 members including Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Brunei, Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Cote D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
Observer states
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central African Republic, Russia, Thailand, and Turkey.
Observer Muslim Communities/Organization
Moro National Liberation Front
Observer Islamic Institution
Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States.
Observer International Organizations
United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, League of Arab States, and African Union.
Website
Entry drafted by PILAC Research Assistant Claire DiMario, with research support from PILAC RA Svitlana Starosvit. Entry last updated: February 2015.