The Family Affairs Department’s main goal is to establish a mechanism to face the new challenges of the 21st century, said its director Jan Agha Iqbal. “Many issues concerning families, women, children and the youth have been raised at OIC meetings and summits; this is the outcome,” he added.

The department has been founded after the OIC was asked at its 10th Islamic Summit Conference in 2003 to establish a division that deals directly with family issues.

“The challenges are enormous … we have various challenges in the Islamic world. We had two ministerial conferences on women — one in Istanbul and the second in Cairo — to discuss and identify the political, economic, cultural and social issues that need to be addressed,” said Iqbal.

“We need to work harder to promote the status of women, children and the youth,” he said, explaining how education is a major challenge that will be covered by the new department.

Despite different countries having their own individual challenges, the OIC does not formulate separate strategies for member states. Instead, the 57 member states work together to produce single uniform plans.

“There are specific challenges but at the same time there are many common ones that we all face. The OIC’s role is to coordinate with ministries to help develop strategies and to implement resolutions relating to family affairs,” said Iqbal.

Although the Family Affairs Department has only been established this year, the OIC has been dealing with issues facing women for quite some time, said Iqbal.

“We have come a long way since 2005. We have held two conferences on women. The OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW) was the result of the First Ministerial Conference on the Role of Women in the Development of the OIC that was held in Istanbul in 2006,” he added. In his message on International Women’s Day and the United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the OIC remains committed to the rights of women.

He also said that in order to empower women, the OIC is dedicated to working in coordination with member states and other international stakeholders.

The First Ministerial Conference on the Role of Women in the Development of the OIC covered issues like gender equality and women’s empowerment, and that the participation of women is crucial in eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development.

Bangladesh’s representative at the OIC, Hemayet Uddin, who is also the director general of the OIC’s Cultural and Social Affairs Department, said that perhaps the most alarming challenge facing the Islamic community today is the systematic campaign against Islamic culture and religious beliefs by powerful quarters in the West.