Sub-Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Ombudsman Association (OICOA)

FOSPAH Hosts First OICOA Sub-Committee Meeting to Strengthen Women’s Rights in the OIC

The First Meeting of the Sub-Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Ombudsman association (OICOA) was held on Monday 22, December 2025. The meeting was attended by members of the sub-committee, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo and Türkiye. In addition to the members of the sub-committee, the meeting was also attended by the representatives from Women Development Organization (WDO), Provincial Ombudsman of Pakistan from Kyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab as well as OICOA Secretariat. Welcoming the participants of the meeting, Federal Ombudsperson FOSPAH Ms. Fauzia Viqar emphasized that collective wisdom lays the foundation for a shared journey towards strengthening women rights across OIC member states. The Sub-committee will serve as a platform where diverse institutional experiences will converge to shape the unified vision. She expressed hope that the work of sub-committee would echo across the OICOA states and that women across OIC would view the Ombudsperson’s institution for protection, courage and fairness.

Country presentations highlighted the constitutional guarantees, legislative and policy frameworks and implementation mechanisms within each country such as repealing restrictions on women employment in 674 occupations across sectors in Azerbaijan, positive discrimination in favor of women and reserving seats for women in Parliament in Benin and Pakistan, quarter of the election fee in Togo and encouragement of the women to participate in country politics, advocacy and input in national laws relating to women including the reproductive health and child marriages, alimony, and access to economic opportunities for women in Azerbaijan and Benin. The members of the sub committee highlighted the ongoing challenges in including the socio-cultural barriers leading to weak culture of reporting and low representation of women in decision making positions. The meeting concluded with discussion on the Plan of Action for the sub-committee and alignment of the sub-committees objectives and plans with the OIC’s Plan of Action for advancement of women as well as the WDO. The committee plans to organize capacity building sessions for not only the members of the sub-committee and the general membership of the OICOA. The sub-committee offered to open up its initiative to general membership of OICOA.