Baghdad (UNA) – The Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) praised the role of the Union of OIC News Agencies (UNA) in promoting joint media action among Islamic countries, noting its efforts in the digital transformation of member agencies and the organization’s bodies, and calling on member states to support the Union and pay their mandatory contributions to its budget.
This came in a resolution issued by the Council during its 52nd session held in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on October 17 and 18, 2026, under the slogan “Dialogue and solidarity are two essential pillars for promoting peace and sustainable development.”
The Council commended the Union's development of the digital platforms of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its bodies, including the development and design of the website of the General Secretariat, the website of the Union of Radio and Television Organizations of the OIC States, the website of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, and the website of the Islamic Solidarity Fund.
He also commended the Union’s role in designing the OIC’s media documentation program, which aims to unify and archive information on agencies, achievements, news, decisions, projects, and executive programs within a unified digital environment and media and information center. He called on the organization and its agencies to cooperate in making the project a success and implementing it on the ground in cooperation with the Union.
The Cabinet meeting commended the Union’s active role in leading the digital transformation of news agencies, through the development of the websites of (10) news agencies in the least developed countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, calling on UNA to mobilize the necessary technical and financial support to develop the remaining websites of agencies that face technical problems. It also urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to cooperate with the Union in this regard and to adopt the new websites launched by the Union.
The meeting welcomed the adoption of the organizational structure of the Union, which was prepared by the General Administration of the Union and reviewed by the Legal Affairs Department of the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and approved by the General Assembly of the Union at its sixth session held on January 27, 2025.
The Cabinet meeting also appreciated the support of the host country of the Union, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and its provision of a financial grant of 11 million and 89 thousand riyals (3 million and 173 thousand US dollars) to the Union, as well as the role of the State of Qatar in paying all of its contributions for the past years, which amounted to (985) thousand US dollars.
He called on member states to pay their mandatory contributions to the budget of the Union of News Agencies of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (UNA) after the restructuring process was completed, based on the resolutions adopted by the Eighth Islamic Conference of Information Ministers in Rabat on January 27 and 28, 2009, and the General Assembly of UNA. He also called for effective participation in the Union’s activities and benefiting from the services it provides. He commended the member states that have committed to paying their contributions, especially the host country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Sultanate of Oman, as well as the countries that have taken the initiative to pay their contributions, namely: the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, and the Republic of Cameroon.
The Cabinet meeting welcomed the Union’s inauguration of its first external office in the city of Ramallah, State of Palestine, on March 10, 2025. It called on member states to support the work of the office to enable it to carry out its tasks, including enhancing the exchange of news, information and expertise with it, providing it with media materials and content related to its field of work and providing the necessary training programs to enhance the skills of the staff in the office, especially with regard to media monitoring and its various tools. The Union also urged the Union to coordinate with the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to enhance the role of the office in the process of media monitoring of the violations and crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, within the framework of the Media Monitoring Unit of the General Secretariat.
The meeting commended the outcomes of the international symposium held under the theme “Empowering Youth in OIC Member States through Video Games and Social Media: Opportunities and Challenges” in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, organized by the Union on September 4, 2025, in cooperation with the OIC General Secretariat and the Ministry of Sports in Saudi Arabia, with the participation of representatives from countries, organizations, and youth bodies from member states. The symposium discussed the importance of video games in supporting youth empowerment initiatives and highlighted investment and economic opportunities in the field, in addition to showcasing the role of national and regional institutions and reviewing the national experiences of member states in organizing the gaming sector and integrating it into development programs and empowering young talents. The meeting welcomed the symposium’s results and encouraged member states to implement its recommendations.
The meeting resolution commended the Union’s efforts in preparing a guide to media terms related to the Palestinian issue, in cooperation with the relevant official bodies in the State of Palestine. It called for the adoption of this guide and its dissemination to news agencies and media outlets in the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, with the aim of adopting it as a reference document in addressing the Palestinian issue, which would contribute to unifying media efforts to support the Palestinian cause and counter the propaganda of the Israeli occupation and its promotion of false terms regarding the situation in occupied Palestine.
He also noted the Union’s launch of a number of digital platforms aimed at promoting joint media work, including the “International Training Institutes Network”, the “Smart Editor Service for generating content using artificial intelligence”, the “Misinformation Verification Tool”, the “UNA Chat Bot”, and the “Media Membership Program”, and calls on member states to take advantage of these platforms, support them, and provide them with the necessary information.
He praised the Union’s efforts in promoting the media use of artificial intelligence, noting the programs and training courses organized by the Union, in cooperation with a number of international media institutions and global centers specializing in artificial intelligence, with the aim of raising the capabilities of media professionals in member states in this field and providing them with the necessary skills to combat the process of content falsification through artificial intelligence.
He also praised the media program launched by the Union to cover the Hajj season of 1446, which includes launching a live broadcast service on its digital platform to transmit the Hajj and Umrah rituals from the holy sites and translating the sermons of “Arafat”, “Eid al-Adha”, and “Friday”, into (51) international languages, targeting more than (80) million viewers, followers, and beneficiaries in the Islamic world, in addition to allocating a special section for Hajj news that is updated around the clock in the three official languages of the Union (Arabic, English, and French), in addition to (48) widely spoken international languages.
The meeting commended the Union for winning the Media Excellence Award for the Hajj season of 1446 AH, which it received from the Presidency of Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in recognition of its professional media role in highlighting the Kingdom’s efforts in serving the Two Holy Mosques and broadcasting the message of moderation in Hajj to the world, in addition to broadcasting the Arafat sermon through its Islamic digital platforms translated into several languages, and its support in delivering the Eid al-Adha sermon to millions of beneficiaries, followers and viewers in the world.
He welcomed the Union’s announcement of the launch of the “Union of OIC News Agencies Award for Media Professionalism,” which will be granted to governmental and non-governmental bodies and institutions and individuals committed to media values. He called on the Union to launch this award as soon as possible and to develop its criteria to contribute to enhancing media work, raising professional standards, and encouraging purposeful media content in member news agencies and international media institutions. He urged member states to cooperate and coordinate with the Union in developing the criteria for this award, its nomination requirements, and its various categories, and he also urged them to participate in it, which would enhance its position and competitiveness among other international awards.
He also praised the outcomes of the roundtable meeting on media cooperation between Russia and the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which was organized by the Union at its headquarters in Jeddah on December 3, 2025, in partnership with the Strategic Vision Group Russia – Islamic World; calling for the activation of the recommendations resulting from this roundtable.
He commended the Union’s active participation in the 26th session of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, held under the theme “Youth Development in OIC Member States: Challenges and Opportunities from a Human Rights Perspective,” and the Union’s significant contribution to managing the session’s media channels and providing extensive media coverage of its sessions and deliberations. He also praised the subsequent meeting with representatives of news agencies from member states to introduce the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission and launch the Jeddah Declaration 2025 on Youth Empowerment, Peace and Development.
In its decision, the Cabinet called on the Union and the General Secretariat to establish an institutional cloud system for the organization, its affiliated bodies, and the delegations of member states, with the aim of unifying the definition of bodies, achievements, news, decisions, projects, and executive programs, and archiving them within a digital environment and a unified media center.
The Union encouraged highlighting the media capabilities of member states, including through organizing a program on media cities that is held periodically in one of the cities in the member states and includes holding media forums, training programs for media professionals, introducing the tourist, historical and cultural landmarks in these cities, in addition to providing media coverage of the prominent events and conferences hosted by these cities.
He commended the Union's launch of an integrated digital media platform to enhance news exchange among member states in the three official languages of the Organization and more than 51 other languages, utilizing AI-powered neural machine translation technology. He also praised the platform's role in intensifying media coverage of the Organization's activities and significant events in Islamic countries, urging member states and OIC bodies to utilize it and contribute media materials. Furthermore, he lauded the Union's efforts in establishing a network on its electronic platform that includes all official news agencies in member states and promotes them to facilitate news exchange and distribution.
The Cabinet meeting, in its 52nd session, urged member agencies to strengthen their cooperation with the General Administration of the Union, including coordination to cover the activities of the organization and its affiliated bodies.
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