The Fourth Meeting of the Monitoring and Advisory Committee (MAC) of the Vocational Education and Training Programme for OIC Member Countries (OIC-VET) was held on 26-28 November in Yaoundé, Republic of Cameroon. The meeting was hosted by Ministry of Employment and Professional and Technical Training (MINEFOP) and was attended by the delegations of the National Focal Points (NFPs) of the OIC Member States, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Comoros, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Turkey. The representatives of the concerned OIC institutions, namely IDB, ICYEN, IUT and SESRIC, and OIC-VET partners, namely ISMEK, ISGUM, MUSIAD, TOBB and ISKUR were also present in the meeting.

The 34th Meeting of the Executive Committe and the 26th Meeting of the General Assembly of the Organization of the Islamic Shipowners’ Association (OISA) was held on 21 November 2012 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The delegates from various national shipping and transportation authorities of Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan and Turkey as well as the representatives of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of Islamic Countries (COMCEC), Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA), International Islamic Organization for Education, Science and Culture. (ISESCO) attended the meeting. SESRIC was represented by Mrs. Zehra Zümrüt Selcuk, Researcher, thereat.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised a training programme on “Macroeconomic Modelling” at the National Bank of Kazakhstan on 21-22 November 2012, within the framework of OIC Central Banks Capacity Building Programme. The Course was provided by Mr. Hüseyin Çağrı Akkoyun, expert of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, and attended by relevant members of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

Under the framework of a German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) project on “Support to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)’ Study Visits to Strengthen the Process of Establishing a Training Centre for PBS”, a delegation of 7 participants from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan paid a study visit to SESRIC. The delegation was headed by Mr. Munir Ahmad Aslam, Director General of PBS, and accompanied by Dr. Michael Wild, Advisor to GIZ in Pakistan, and Mr. Marcus Delacor, Managing Director of euphorum GmbH, implementing agency of the study visit. As the Government of Pakistan decided to establish a statistical training centre to satisfy the demand for capacities in the field of statistics, the focus of the study visit was to gain a better understanding on the statistical training activities of SESRIC implemented under the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) initiative and impact of StatCaB trainings at large.

The Sixth Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research took place during 20-21 November 2012 in Khartoum, Republic of the Sudan. The two-day Conference brought together the ministers of higher education and scientific research of the OIC Member States to discuss various important issues pertaining to higher education and scientific research in the member countries and the report of ISESCO Director General on ISESCO's Efforts in the Field of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology between the Fifth and Sixth Sessions of the Conference.

The Centre organized a training course on “Short-term Business Statistics” at the Department of National Planning, Maldives, on 19-20 November 2012. The course was provided by Mr. Abd. Latib Talib, an expert from the Department of Statistics (DOS) Malaysia, and was attended by the related staff members of the Department of National Planning, Maldives.

The Workshop on “Conducting and Analysing Labour Force Surveys for Monitoring of the Labour Market for the Arab Countries” was held on 18-22 November 2012 in Amman, Jordan. The workshop was co-organised with the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS) in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) and Department of Statistics (DOS) Jordan.

The Centre organised training course on “Price Statistics and Indices” at the Central Statistics Organization (CSO) Afghanistan, on 18-21 November 2012. The course was provided by Ms. Sa'adiah Ahmad, an expert from the Department of Statistics, Malaysia and was attended by the relevant staff members of the Central Statistics Organization Afghanistan.

The 39th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) has been held in Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti on 15-17 November 2012. Foreign Ministers of the Member Countries focused on the problems that Member Countries are facing currently and discussed sound strategies to promote peace and development of the Islamic Ummah and strengthen solidarity and cooperation among OIC Member States.

The Centre organised training course on “Business Registers” at the Central Bureau of Statistics, (CBS) Sudan, on 12-14 November 2012. The course was provided by Mr. Hassen Aurouri, an expert from the Institut National de la Statistique, Tunisie, and was attended by 35 staff members of CBS, Sudan.

A group of eight master trainers from different vocational schools of the Republic of Azerbaijan received training at the Centre for Art and Vocational Training Courses of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İSMEK) under SESRIC’s İSMEK Master Trainer Programme (İMTP) 12-17 November 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Centre organised training course on “Price Statistics and Indices” at the Ministry of National Economy Oman, on 12-14 November 2012. The course was provided by Mr. Cem Baş, an expert from the Turkish Statistical Institute and was attended by 20 staff members of Ministry of National Economy Oman.

Regional conference on “Promoting Youth Employment in West Africa”, organized by the Development Centre of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in partnership with the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and African Development Bank (AFDB), was held in Dakar, Senegal on 10 November 2012. Gathering the policy makers, experts, private-sector representatives, academics, members of civil society and youth representatives from Africa and other continents, the conference was aimed to focus on concrete examples to facilitate knowledge sharing on development of educational models and policies thrives youth employment.

The Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC), an affiliated institution of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, held the SMIIC Forum 2012 in Antalya, Republic of Turkey on 8-9 November 2012. Aiming at functioning as a platform to bring experts and professionals from the fields of standardisation, accreditation and metrology together, the SMIIC Forum 2012 gave participants the opportunity to discuss the current situation of these fields in the OIC Member Countries and at the international level. Over 150 attendees from 35 countries including the National Standardisation Bodies (NSB) and relevant national organisations of member countries, and international organisations comprising the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC), Standardisation Organisation for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GSO), International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), OIC General Secretariat, COMCEC, SESRIC, and ICDT participated in the Forum. Mr. Atilla Karaman, Researcher at the Statistics and Information Department, represented the SESRIC at the Forum.

The International Seminar on Industrial Property Policies was held on 8-9 November 2012 in Ankara, Turkey as a part of Technical Cooperation among Patent Institutes of OIC Member States Project. The Meeting was hosted by the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI). Senior representatives of the national patent institutes in OIC member countries, as well as the relevant OIC institutions, were among the attendees of the Meeting. SESRIC was represented at the Meeting by Mr. Hakan Huseyin Eryetli, Director of Training and Technical Cooperation Department, and Mr. Mustafa Sahin, Centre’s Atlas Project Manager.

The Centre organised training course on "Short-term Business Statistics" at the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), on 5-7 November 2012. The course was provided by Mr. Abd. Latib Talib, an expert from the Department of Statistics (DOS) Malaysia, and was attended by the related staff members of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organized, in collaboration with Aegean International Federation of Health (ESAFED) and Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA), a training programme on “Pediatric Emergency Medicine” on 01 November 2012-31 January 2013 in Mogadishu, Republic of Somalia. The training course was conducted by Dr. Lokman Çam, pediatrician in Kayseri Maternity and Child Hospital, Republic of Turkey. He conducted lectures on 13 different subjects related to new-born healthcare. The trainings provided Benadir University Medicine Faculty students and Benadir Hospital doctors and nurses to be equipped with key points from the literature regarding leading-edge pediatric emergency medicine topics, literature-based recommendations for practice improvement and improved diagnostics and a better treatment plan for their patients.

The Centre organised training course on “Labour Force Statistics” at the Central Statistics Organization (CSO) Afghanistan, on 22-24 October 2012. The course was provided by Ms. Saidah Hashim, an expert from the Department of Statistics (DOS) Malaysia, and was attended by the related staff members of the Central Statistics Organization (CSO) Afghanistan.

The Centre organised training course on “Supply - Use and Input-Output Tables” at the Department of Statistics (DOS) Malaysia, on 17-19 October 2012. The course was provided by Mr. Mehmet Kula, an expert from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), and was attended by 37 staff members of the Department of Statistics (DOS) and other agencies.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised a training course on “Demography and Population” at the National Institute of Statistics (INS) of Niger in Niamey on 15-17 October 2012. The course was provided by Mr. Achref Mrabet, an expert from the Statistics Tunisia, and was attended by relevant INS staff members.