Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe: A Qualitative Move Forward as Reflected by the Policies of the Specialized Institutions
The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe is witnessing important changes in administrative philosophy which foretells a better future.
The FIOE is implementing the philosophy of change to stay abreast with the challenges and changes in human relations in Europe and the world. The Executive office of the Federation recently discussed a number of important files, after a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of Federation institutions in all European regions. Through internal dialogue, many suggestions came to light calling for establishing specialized divisions to elevate the performance of the Federation in the field of the Muslim Family, Caring for Muslim Youth, Media, Charity Work and Leadership development amongst others.
In the field of the Muslim Family the Executive Office discussed the suggestion of forming the European Committee for the Muslim Family to care for this unit which is considered to be the destiny of Muslims in Europe, the announcement of this specialized institution comes after the large success of the Muslim Family Campaign, which was initiated by the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe in June 2009, and continued in all European regions through-out the year. Many Islamic institutions in Arab countries participated in the campaign headed by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Executive Office also discussed the need of the Federation for service societies since they are considered the true pulse of Islamic values which the Muslim minorities were not realistically capable of portraying in past decades, relying on theoretical arguments which were not beneficial in light of the circumstances, where societies need action more than words, such as the case after the economic crisis. In light of this direction the Executive Office discussed the suggestion of the European Charity Work Organization, inside Europe, to participate in serving European societies, and stressing the presence of Muslims and their interest in the problems and finding solutions. This should help in changing the stereotype that has clung to Muslims in the past decades, making them seem fully dependant on these societies. With this project European Muslims can start working and giving to establish their belonging and commitment to Europe.
Media was not absent from the Federation files, whereby the suggestion submitted by Al Raed to form the European Media Center was discussed. It aims at focusing all separated efforts in the media field, to cover the European region and overcome this shortcoming. The project consists of media work based on three sites; one site which concentrates on Federation work, and another site which deals with the news of the Muslims of Europe and the third is a specialized media site for the media market. These files will be presented to the Consultative Council which should meet in Istanbul from the 5th to the 7th of February 2010. In the same context the Youth Division announced the establishment of the European Muslim Scout Union, which held its first meeting in Brussels from the 23rd to the 25th of January 2010, where the participants discussed the plan and programs of the Union for 2010.
In order for the Federation to have an aware administration which can answer to the necessities of the age, the Executive Office discussed the suggestion of the Human Resources Department to establish a European Center for Leadership Development. The idea of the project is based upon the fact that there is great leadership potential, competencies and expertise in the youth ranks of the Federation in all fields, but this great wealth of human resource is as yet untapped and makes the benefits minimal, which necessitates developing and activating it in specialized areas, to be able to reap the full benefits in a way which conforms to the size of the Federation.