By Bernama
Dakar : Foreign Ministers from 57 member states of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), including Pakistan at their meeting here agreed to changes in OIC Charter, which would be formally approved by their heads of state and government.
“We concluded a historic act with consensus on a revised OIC Charter after two years of debate within 57-member body,” the Pakistan Press International (PPI) quoted Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Senegal’s foreign minister, as saying.
The two-day summit began on Thursday.
Gadio said there was 99.99% chance that changes would be formally approved by OIC leaders on conclusion of their Summit on Friday.
He said points revised included criteria for membership or observer status of OIC, modernizing its institutions and giving a new definition for self-determination.
Foreign Ministers also agreed to strengthen an Islamic solidarity fund launched in May last year, create an anti-poverty fund, a program to aid African nations, and to seek debt eradication for OIC members.
The current Charter has been used since 1972, three years after the group was founded. It has grown from 24 members to 57. OIC is not what it was in 1972.
Former presidents, political leaders and scholars as well as legal experts took part in a panel that recommended changes to OIC Charter.