The Charter of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, commonly known as OIC Charter, is the foundational

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

of the

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC; ; ), formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1969. It consists of Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, 57 member s ...

. Its foundational principles are based on 18 chapters that objectively maintains the purpose, focus, functions, and foundation of the OIC, an

intergovernmental organization Globalization is social change associated with increased connectivity among societies and their elements and the explosive evolution of transportation and telecommunication technologies to facilitate international cultural and economic exchange. ...

founded in 1969. The charter was formally signed on 25 September 1969 by the 57 member states, including 5 observer states. However, it was revised by the 11th summit held in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, Senegal on 14 March 2008. OIC charter determines the role of organisations, institutions and organs, including six subsidiaries, eight specialized institutions, seventeen affiliated organizations, four standing committees,

General Secretariat Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

, one independent commission, and the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States, including the

OIC Council of Foreign Ministers The Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM ; ; ; DBK), formerly known as Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, is the main decision-making body of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation consisting one representative from each member states of t ...

and Islamic summit. It outlines guidelines, principles, policies and procedures of the entire OIC and its associated members and organs.

Summary

The charter consists of 39 articles grouped into 18 chapters. Each chapter determine different roles and purpose of the whole OIC and its mission in the

Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

while articles address respective chapters within the framework of the OIC. * Chapter I consists of a detailed account of principles concerning its role in cooperation with the members states on various subjects, including

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

and

solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

, domestic affairs of the respective sovereign states and territories and defending

Islamic culture Islamic cultures or Muslim cultures refers to the historic cultural practices that developed among the various peoples living in the Muslim world. These practices, while not always religious in nature, are generally influenced by aspects of Islam ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and

fundamental rights Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Susta ...

in general. Chapter I determines the role of OIC in restoration of

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

and

integrity Integrity is the quality of being honest and having a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and Honesty, truthfulness or of one's actions. Integr ...

of the concerned occupational states. It outlines

global politics Global politics, also known as world politics, names both the discipline that studies the political and economic patterns of the world and the field that is being studied. At the centre of that field are the different processes of political global ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

and social

decision-making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be ...

processes entrusted with safeguarding

public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...

s. It also determines global peace,

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

. *

Chapter II Chapter Two refers to the second chapter in a book. Chapter Two, Chapter 2, or Chapter II may also refer to: Film * ''Chapter Two'' (film), a 1979 adaptation of Neil Simon's play * '' KGF: Chapter 2'', 2022 Indian period action film * '' Khuda H ...

organise 57 member and provides membership to the non-member states with Muslim majority registered with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. It also grant

observer status Observer status is a privilege granted by some organizations to non-members to give them an ability to participate in the organization's activities. Observer status is often granted by intergovernmental organizations (IGO) to non-member parties and ...

to its associated member states. * Chapter III determine the status of main bodies and it consists of major branches of the OIC, including Islamic summit,

, standing committees, subsidiary organs, specialized institutions, affiliated institutions, executive committee, International Islamic Court of Justice, the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission,

Committee of Permanent Representatives COREPER, from French ''Comité des représentants permanents'', is the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, made up of the head or deputy head of mission from the EU member states in Brussels. COREPER's defined role ...

, and

Chapter IV Chapter Four refers to a fourth Chapter (books), chapter in a book. Chapter Four, Chapter 4, or Chapter IV may also refer to: Music * Chapter 4, a band on J Records * Chapter 4 (EP), ''Chapter 4'' (EP), an EP by Zion I * ''Chapter Four: Alive in ...

formulates the composition of

Islamic Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Islamic Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (; ) is one of the five highest decision-making bodies of the OIC, the other four being the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, Standing Committees, Executive Committee, and the Inter ...

and determines that summit shall be attended by the

heads of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

, kings, government of member states and the supreme authority of the OIC. Summit shall make independent decision on

policymaking Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

and formulation. *

Chapter V Chapter Five refers to a fifth Chapter (books), chapter in a book. Chapter Five, Chapter 5, or Chapter V may also refer to: Albums * ''Chapter 5: Letter'', a 2002 album by g.o.d. * ''Chapter V: Underrated'', a Syleena Johnson album, 2011 * Chapter ...

maintainers the

, including its summit and extraordinary sessions. It grants permission to the Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to implement the decisions. *

Chapter VI Chapter Six refers to a sixth Chapter (books), chapter in a book. Chapter Six, Chapter 6, or Chapter VI may also refer to: Music * Chapter 6 (band), a professional a cappella ensemble from Illinois, USA * ''Chapter 6: Couples Therapy'', the sevent ...

maintains various institutions to discuss critical issues on various subjects. It determines the status of Al-Quds Committee, Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC), Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC), and the Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH). Standing Committees, according to the chapter VI shall be attended by

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

s and heads of state and the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of the member states. * Chapter VII maintains Executive Committee which consists minister of foreign affairs. * Chapter VIII sets rules for the meeting attended by the Committee of Permanent Representatives * Chapter IX grants the status of judicial organ to the International Islamic Court of Justice * Chapter X regulates the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission * Chapter XI regulates the General Secretariat and determines the role of secretary general * Chapter XII establishes subsidiaries, specialized institutions, and approves the status of affiliated organisation. * Chapter XIII determines the role of specialized and affiliated institutions within the framework of chapter XIII. * Chapter XIV regulates the cooperation in the member states and the OIC * Chapter XV maintains

world peace World peace is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about. Various relig ...

and

international security ''International Security'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of international and national security. It was founded in 1976 and is edited by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and publis ...

. The organisation is entitled to play its role in

disputed territory A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of territories (land, water or airspace) between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the ...

in the

. * Chapter XVI regulates budget and finance of the whole organization and its subsidiaries, specialized as well as affiliated institutions. * Chapter XVII regulates rules of procedure and voting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers and Islamic summits. * Chapter XVIII maintains a friendly environment between the OIC and member states for its objectives and functions, in addition to maintaining withdrawal of membership. Under this chapter, a member states may present a proposal for adoption of new

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charter of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation August 1969 March 1972 International law Political charters Treaties concluded in 1969 Treaties concluded in 1972 Treaties entered into force in 1969 Treaties entered into force in 1972 Treaties of the Kingdom of Afghanistan Treaties of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Chad Treaties of the Kingdom of Egypt Treaties of Guinea Treaties of Indonesia Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kuwait Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Lebanon Treaties of the Kingdom of Libya Treaties of the Maldives Treaties of Mali Treaties of Morocco Treaties of the People's Republic of Mozambique Treaties of Namibia Treaties of Niger Treaties of Nigeria Treaties of the Dominion of Pakistan Treaties of Qatar Treaties of Saudi Arabia Treaties of Senegal Treaties of the Somali Republic Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Turkmenistan Treaties of Uganda Treaties of the United Arab Emirates Treaties of Uzbekistan Treaties establishing intergovernmental organizations