Conference on Empowerment of Family and Family Members

With the participation of ministers and representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states and NGOs from different countries of the world working in the field of women, families and youth, on February 9, 2017, in the Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia ,named “Strengthening the Marriage and Family Institution and Family Values in the Member States Protection “, was held.

The representatives who spoke on the occasion of meeting stated that they would like to emphasize, protect and encourage the role of the community as a natural and basic unit of society. Strengthening marriage and family institutions, emphasizing the need for member states to develop effective policies at the point of preserving their values.

They underlined the holiness of the role of the family in raising, training and preserving values, as an ethical system that inspires the individual’s posture and behavior, with one being the main source of moral and religious character.

In the protection of the family, the importance of religious values and the importance of Islamic Sharia to the protection of human rights and the family, as well as the main responsibility of the parents for the upbringing and protection of the child; the role of non-governmental organizations in supporting families’ efforts to ensure the proper growth of the child in a healthy family environment was one of the topics specifically addressed in the meeting.

In addition to this, it is important that the social community should focus on the family with a strategic approach to cope with the challenges of sustainable development, which is one of the most important elements of sustainable development.

as well as the responsibilities of the respective ministries and subordinate bodies of the OIC member states and their subsidiary bodies to protect the values of the family.
Many of the Member States expressed deep concerns about the emerging threats to peace and stability, ongoing wars, armed conflicts, occupation and terrorist families, and on the stability and security of the community.

The meeting took into account the policies and strategies of member states in the development of marriage capacity and the development, value of the family institution, and ended with the negotiations on the issues of concern for the organized institutions and non-governmental organizations active in this area.

Declaration of Conference on Empowerment of Family and Family Members:

We emphasize the strengthening of the marriage institution, the empowerment of the family, the development of strategies for the protection of their values, and the need for comprehensive family policing.

We request that Member States and relevant OIC institutions exchange information and expertise to establish mechanisms in coordination with international organizations operating on this areaWe urge Member States and relevant OIC institutions to take practical steps to remove the effects of poverty and the family, and encourage family reunions.

We invite the OIC Member States and relevant institutions to submit scholarships and micro-credits in order to develop and implement solidarity roles and mechanisms, and to ensure that eligible families form income-generating projects.

We invite Member States and relevant OIC institutions to take practical steps to create a protective mechanism against natural disasters or war-related risks.

Apart from the voices that advocate homosexuality and call on these groups to legally recognize their minority rights, we unconditionally reject other political or economic pressures that are met by the member states in this scene.

We encourage steps to strengthen the role of marriage and family institutions in promoting and protecting their values internationally. We invite the member states to make efforts to develop a general structure for cooperation and coordination between the OIC bodies operating in the field of empowerment and capacity building and to create special structures and departments dedicated to family matters.

We call on the Member States to call on the children to fulfill their responsibilities for children and youth by spreading the spirit of fighting against love, peace and hatred and to protect children from heretical and terrorist ideologies and to develop mechanisms in this area.