On May 1, 2005, a conference titled "Searching for a New Vision in a Changing World" was held in Istanbul under the leadership of the Voluntary Organizations Foundation of Turkey (TGTV), with the participation of over three hundred non-governmental organizations from 40 countries.
On the first day of the conference, Mr. Bülent Arınç, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and on the second day, Mr. Abdullah Gül, Minister of Foreign Affairs, delivered speeches. In the final session of the conference, the draft statute of the planned Union was opened for discussion, and by the vote of the attending representatives, it was decided to establish the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNI).
Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, shared the good news of the newly established Union with the public at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
Aimed at establishing sustainable cooperation among non-governmental organizations operating in different regions of the Islamic world around shared values, Necmi Sadıkoğlu was elected as the Secretary General for the first term of UNI, and Atty. Ali Kurt was elected as the representative for Turkey. Istanbul was adopted as the headquarters of the Union.
The establishment of UNI gained official status as an international organization under Law No. 3335 on the Establishment of Organizations with International Character by the decision of the Council of Ministers dated December 31, 2005.
Eyüp Akbal has been serving as the Secretary General of UNI since 2022. Continuing its activities with the principle of "6 Continents, 66 Countries, One Nation," UNI currently has 401 members.
