The readers will recall that the UN expert panel did come out with very ambitious plans including raising the number of Security Council members to 24, giving all four regions, namely, Americas, Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific, an equal of six seats each. It also recommended more permanent seats in the Security Council, albeit without veto powers, and abolition of the Geneva-based Human Rights Commission with leaner and more effective Human Rights Council. None of the ambitious proposals got carried through, except that the UN Human Rights Council has come into being, that too after much dilution of the original proposal. And on top of it, it is not much leaner having a whooping 47 members (compare that to 53 in the defunct Geneva based Commission).

Save for the fact that the Council has not elected Robert Mugabe and Kim Jong Il as the founding co-Chairmen, it has all the weaknesses that the replaced Commission had. Not the least is the fact that there was no vetting of the candidates by an independent body such as the International Court of Justice and just like in the Commission the major human rights abusers have got elected as members of this new watchdog now: totalitarian states like China, military dictatorships like Pakistan, fascists like Algeria, theocracies like Saudi Arabia, corrupt like Russia, and tinpot autocracies like Azerbaijan.

In the light of the failure of United Nations to bring its member states out of their inertia against change and reform, one can well imagine that even if the OIC panel comes out with brilliant recommendations, the odds against them being carried out are particularly high. Yet, one would still like to consider even the appointment of this new OIC panel as a watershed in the OIC history. It is the first time that the need for reform has come out from rhetoric and speeches to something tangible, i.e. a committee, is in place.

More importantly, for the first time "democracy" and "human rights" in the Muslim world are on the table. Before that, these two issues were hush-hush affair and even a mention of that in the OIC conferences, which as one analyst had put it, used to be "assemblies of more butchers than statesmen", was an anathema. The OIC continued to lambaste India, Philippines, Bulgaria, Myanmar and others of their treatment of the Muslims, yet the condition of Muslims citizens, especially sectarian minorities and political opposition, within the (totalitarian) Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan or Indonesia, for instance, was never up for discussion. Times have changed and the new Advisory Panel has been entrusted to make recommendations on redrafting the OIC Charter with emphasis on role for the OIC regarding the issues of good governance, democracy and human rights.

True, the OIC had several committees in the past like the so-called commission of eminent persons, as recently as last year, of which Mushahid Hussain of Pakistan was also a member, but the final reports of such panels found their way into the dustboins of history and never got implemented. This time, one can hope, it is likely to be different since unlike the Eminent Persons Committee of last year, the present Advisory Panel has the most of the big names in the Islamic World today. Each of the members is a towering personality and it is difficult to presume that the opinion of this new panel could be ignored totally.

The Advisory Panel consists of former Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr. Mahathir Muhammad, former President of Turkey Suleyman Demirel, former Secretary General of the OIC Dr. Hamid Al Gabid, former Foreign Minister of Indonesia Ali Alatas, former Director General of UNESCO Amadou Mahtar M'Bow, former Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jameel Al Hujeilan, and former Judge of International Court of Justice Nabil El Araby, in addition to the incumbent OIC Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu himself. Last month was the first session as the Panel has to hold two more sessions, the next one in Jeddah in October and the third and last probably in Kuala Lumpur a quarter later. Dr Mahathir Mohammad had been elected to chair all the three sessions.

Inaugurating the meeting, Prof. Ihsanoglu said that while preparing the new Charter due consideration was to be given to major changes that have taken place in the world to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. He said that vision by the Panel would include human rights, good governance, democracy and economic agenda for the progress of the Muslim countries especially to eradicate diseases and poverty.

Speaking on the occasion, Demirel noted that OIC, since its establishment, has been a source to promote solidarity among all the member States and have consolidated cooperation in the field of economic, social, cultural, scientific and other fields. While drawing attention to the rapid changes being taken place in the world, he called for the OIC member States to seize the moment.

Addressing the meeting, Dr. Mahathir Muhammad observed that the world has changed a lot since the foundation of OIC 36 years ago. "Today, the Muslim world is the target of vilification and we have to respond to it. We have to look at ourselves and to tell the world that we are capable of having good governments, and good governance and that would give us credibility and respect," he said adding that it was essential to review how far the Charter benefited the Muslim world and served the purpose of the OIC, and what are the major factors that affected its effectiveness, especially due to the lack of much support from member States.

Lofty goals, they are, but can the OIC translate these dreams into reality? Time will tell!

The writer is the Middle East Editor of Cambridge Review of International Affairs and a widely read analyst on politics, governance and human rights in the Muslim world.