The 8^th Session of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Women was held on 6 – 8 July 2021 in Cairo, Egypt under the theme of “Preserving the Achievements of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women in the Lights of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond”. The Conference was organized by The National Council for Women of the Arab Republic of Egypt in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Conference brought together Ministers Incharge of Women’s Affairs, representatives of relevant OIC institutions and international organizations. SESRIC was represented at the Conference by Mr. Mazhar Hussain, Director of Economic and Social Research, and Ms. Tazeen Qureshi, Researcher.

During the Senior Official Meeting (SOM), held on 6 – 7 July 2021, the implementation of the resolutions of the 7th OIC Ministerial Conference on Women was reviewed and the progress reports on the initiatives and activities of the OIC Member States and institutions in the domain of women empowerment and development were considered and discussed. Mr. Mazhar Hussain apprised the participants of the SESRIC Activity Report on the Advancement of Women. In the domain of statistics, Mr. Hussain informed the participants of the women and gender related indicators available under the OIC Statistics Database (OICStat). In the domain of research, he mentioned the technical background reports and strategic documents prepared by the Centre including the OIC Women and Development Report 2021. He also informed the participants about SESRIC’s efforts in the domain of training and capacity building to facilitate the implementation of the OIC Plan of Action on the Advancement of Women (OPAAW) in the OIC Member States. On the second day of the SOM, Ms. Tazeen Qureshi presented findings from the OIC Women and Development Report 2021 on the theme of ‘Progress towards the Implementation of the OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW)’. The presentation discussed the state of women’s development in OIC Countries in line with the objectives of the OPAAW and assessed their performance towards the implementation of OPAAW based on Member Countries’ responses to the ‘OPAAW Implementation Survey 2019’.

The Ministerial Session of the Conference started on 8th July 2021 with opening statements from H. E. Ms. Helene Marie Laurence Ilboudo, the Minister of Women, Social Solidarity, Family and Humanitarian Action in Burkina Faso and Chair of the 7th Session of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Women, Ms. Maya Morsy, the President of the National Council for Women of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and H. E. Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It was followed by a welcoming address from H. E. Abdelfattah El-SiSi, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Following the opening ceremony, the Ministerial Working Sessions started, where the Ministers and Head of Delegations reviewed and discussed efforts of the OIC Member States and institutions in the field of women empowerment and the implementation of OPAAW and efforts exerted by the OIC General Secretariat and the Arab Republic of Egypt for the activation of the Women Development Organization (WDO). As of July 2020, 22 OIC Member States have signed and 15 Member States have ratified the statutes of the WDO.

The 8th Session of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Women was concluded with the adoption of 14 resolutions and the Cairo Declaration. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan will host the 9th Session of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Women in 2023.

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