The 1st OIC Summit in Morocco in 1969
The 2nd OIC Summit in Lahore, Pakistan in 1974
Background
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations which has membership of 57 states spread over four continents. The Organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world and ensuring to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world. The Organization was established upon a decision of the historical summit which took place in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco on 12th Rajab 1389 Hijra (25th September 1969) as a result of criminal arson of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.
The OIC composed of the following main bodies:
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The Islamic Summit Conference (ISC); is the supreme authority of the OIC which meets every three years to lay down the Organization's policy
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The Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM); meets once a year to examine the implementation of its decisions taken within the framework of the policy defined by the Summit
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The General Secretariat; the executive organ of the OIC entrusted with the implementation of the decisions of the two preceding bodies
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To coordinate its action in the various fields of cooperation: political, economic, cultural, social, spiritual and scientific, among Member States, the Organization has created different committees at ministerial level and a number of which are chaired by heads of state such as The Al-Quds Committee, the Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC), the Standing Committee for Economic and Trade Cooperation (COMCEC) and the Standing Committee for Scientific and Technical Cooperation (COMSTECH).
The current chairman of the OIC Summit is Senegal, while the chairmanship of the CFM is Republic of Kazakhstan.
Brunei Darussalam's role in OIC
His Majesty the Sultan and yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam at the OIC Extraordinary Summit in Makkah, Saudi Arabia in 2005
HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah (6th from left) at the 36th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers of the OIC in Syria in 2009
Brunei Darussalam became a full member of the OIC in January 1984 at the Fourth Islamic Summit held in Morocco which was attended by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
As an Islamic country, one of the aims of Brunei Darussalam's membership in the OIC is to work closely with other OIC members in promoting Islamic interests and values for the benefit of the Islamic Ummah. Through this, Brunei Darussalam can also strengthen its political and economic ties with them.
In the political arena, Brunei Darussalam has been consistently supportive of the OIC's efforts in solving the Palestinian problem, including the question of Al-Quds Al-Sharif. Together with other OIC members, Brunei Darussalam also supports every effort towards a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East problems.
Since its membership, Brunei Darussalam has been actively participating in the various meetings of the Organisation, including Summits, Ministerial meetings and meetings of its subsidiary organs and the various expert groups.
As a member of the Organisation, Brunei Darussalam is consistently paying its mandatory contribution to the OIC General Secretariat and its subsidiary organs at the current rate of 3.5% of the assessed total budget as agreed by the 6th Islamic Summit in Dakar, Senegal. Brunei Darussalam has also been making some voluntary financial contributions to various OIC Funds such as the Islamic Solidarity Fund, Al-Quds Fund, Afghanistan Trust Fund and Sierra Leone Trust Fund.
