International Human Rights Law Documents

Note: The Covenant was finalised in 2004 (see OIC/9-IGGE/HRI/2004/Rep.Final) and was formally adopted at the 32nd Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, Sana'a, Yemen, 28–30 June 2005 under the auspices of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Not yet in force. The English language text reproduced is the official version provided by the OIC.

The States Parties to this Covenant,

Believing that the values and principles constitute the patterns of behavior of Muslim society in such a way as to realize security, stability, development and progress for the society within the family environment, which is the cornerstone of the social edifice,

Proceeding from Islamic efforts on issues of childhood, which contributed to the development of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,

Cognizant of the objectives of the Organization of the Islamic Conference enshrined in its Charter and its Summit and Ministerial Conferences resolutions and of international conventions signed by its Member States;

Affirming the principles contained in the Dhaka Declaration on Human Rights in Islam adopted by the 14th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in December 1983 and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam adopted by the 14th ICFM under resolution No. 49/19-P (1990) and in the Declaration on the Rights and Care of the Child in Islam adopted by the Seventh Islamic Summit Conference under resolution No. 16/7-C (1994),

Affirming the civilisational and historic role of the Islamic Ummah and in contributing to the international efforts on human rights,

Believing that basic rights and public freedoms in Islam are an integral part thereof that no one has a prerogative to interrupt, violate, or disregard;

Aware of the enormous responsibility towards the Child in particular as the vanguard and maker of the future of the Ummah;

Seeking to enhance Islamic performance in the Child sector so as to adapt frameworks and mechanisms to face the ever-accelerating changes and transformations and their repercussions on that sector;