OIC Ministerial Moot on Women

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), historically speaking, is the second largest inter-governmental organization in the world after the United Nations (UN). With as many as 57 member states across four continents, it serves as the collective political and diplomatic voice of the Muslim world, peace and harmony.
The OIC aims to enhance solidarity and cooperation among member states in political, economic, social, cultural, scientific and humanitarian fields.
As a founding member of the OIC, Pakistan greatly values its role and contributions as an institutional expression of Pan-Islamic sentiment and remains committed to the values and objectives of the organization, as promoting relations with Muslim countries is its constitutional obligation and a key pillar of its foreign policy.
For its part, the OIC has consistently and unequivocally supported the Kashmir cause through a series of pronouncements, including communiques issued by the Islamic Summits and resolutions by various sessions of the Council of Foreign Ministers.
Pakistan is all set to open a new chapter of its continued cooperation and participation in OIC activities as it hosts the 9th OIC Ministerial Conference on Women, being held at the Convention Centre Islamabad on July 12 and 13, 2026, for which all possible arrangements have been made by the Federal Ministry of Human Rights in a befitting manner.
The important OIC moot will see delegates from member countries, and possibly also from some concerned international organizations, deliberate on “Socio-Economic and Political Empowerment of Women in the OIC Countries: Challenges and Way Forward,” while the three sub-themes include “Enhancing Political and Professional Participation of Women,” “Advancing Women’s Access to Economic Resources and Financial Systems,” and “Bridging Gender Gaps in Technology and Digital Participation.”
According to information available from the organizers of this meaningful and forward-looking moot on women’s empowerment in relevant, important fields today, the 9th OIC Ministerial Conference aims to develop a synthesis for creating an enabling environment for women in member countries, in which they can fully participate, exploit and realise their potential to contribute to the socio-economic development of their respective motherlands.
The advancement of women is not merely a social objective but also a strategic necessity for the collective progress of the Muslim Ummah. There are around 940 million females living in OIC member states, constituting 49.3 percent of the OIC member countries’ total population.
However, their role in and contribution to the socio-economic development of their societies is often suboptimal. This is largely due to various social, cultural, and political norms and practices that limit their participation in society and render their needs invisible. Ensuring fair participation of women in society is of the utmost importance for OIC member countries in order to eliminate gender disparities and maximize women’s positive, desirable and meaningful contributions to the socio-economic development of their countries.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025, although there has been moderate progress in narrowing gender disparities, full parity is still projected to be more than a century away at current rates of progress. Global parity in 2025 stood at [figure missing], with significant gaps persisting in women’s political empowerment and economic participation.
The finalised themes for the upcoming moot, as briefly mentioned above, represent a sophisticated synthesis of Islamic values, demographic realities, and modern economic demands, and follow up on the 8th Ministerial Conference in Cairo, Egypt, to bridge the gap between declarative policy and practical implementation through the lens of socio-economic and political empowerment of women.
The upcoming moot’s central theme, “Socio-Economic and Political Empowerment of Women in the OIC Countries: Challenges and Way Forward,” acknowledges that human development can only reach its optimum level through the full participation of all gender identities. This realisation is duly anchored in the OIC charter and the constitutional principles of member states.
As far as host country Pakistan is concerned, its Constitution also adheres to egalitarianism, equality, socio-economic well-being, and full participation of women in national life. Father of the Nation and great Muslim leader Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had articulated a democratic state based on Islamic principles of social justice.
Further, the OIC-2025 Programme of Action has also identified the empowerment of women as a key priority, thereby recognizing that they constitute one of the most significant groups given the wide gender disparities in several member countries.
To address the gaps in achieving the goals of socio-economic and political empowerment of women, three sub-themes — namely, enhancing political and professional participation, advancing women’s access to economic resources and financial systems, and bridging gender gaps in technology and digital participation — have been prioritized, since these themes recognize that political agency provides the legislative framework for women’s economic rights, while digital inclusion serves as the modern infrastructure necessary to exercise these rights in a globalized world.
More on the moot’s deliberations later. The writer wishes the organizers and participants good luck, hoping that the delegates will make positive and practical recommendations regarding women’s enhanced participation in different activities of national life in their respective countries, and on enhancing women’s participation in all national activities and reducing gender disparities in due course of time.