Within its 2013 annual work plan, SESRIC organised the training course on 'Transport and Communication Statistics' at the Agence Nationale de la Statistique et de la Démographie (ANSD) in Dakar, Senegal on 6-8 Novermber 2013. The course was provided by Mr. Bouazza Bouchkhar, an expert from the Direction de la Statistique, Morocco.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised a training programme on ‘Railway Safety Management’ in collaboration with the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) and International Union of Railways (UIC), on 5-8 November 2013 in Eskişehir, Turkey with the participation of 135 participants from 11 OIC Member Countries. SESRIC was represented at the Programme by Mr. Mehmet Fatih Serenli, Director of Training and Technical Cooperation Department.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised, in collaboration with the Egyptian Competitian Authority, a training course on “Competition Law and Policy” within the framework of the OIC Capacity Building Programme for Competition Authorities (OIC-CA-CaB) on 28-30 October 2013 in Yaoundé Cameroon. The course was provided by Ms Nora Mohamed Amin, Team Leader from Egyptian Competition and was attended by several experts from the Competition Commission of Cameroon.

Under the Resolution No. 2/4-ICHM on Healthy Life Style and Prevention and Control of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases, the 4th ICHM, which was held in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia on 22-24 October 2013, adopted the following three resolutions on tobacco control in OIC Member States:

The OIC Health Report 2013, which has been prepared by SESRIC, was officially launched during the 4th Session of the Islamic Conference of Health Ministers (ICHM) which was convened on 22–24 October 2013 in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia.

The 4th Session of the Islamic Conference of Ministers of Health, which is held in Jakarta on 22-24 October 2013, adopted the OIC Strategic Health Programme of Action 2014-2023 (OIC-SHPA), which was prepared and submitted by SESRIC.

The Fourth Islamic Conference of Health Ministers with the theme of “Better Nutrition, Better Health, Better Ummah” was held in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia on 22-24 October 2013. The Conference was attended by the Ministers of Health and high-level representatives from 36 OIC Member States, various OIC institutions and international organizations and entities. The aim of the Conference was to adopt the OIC Strategic Health Programme of Action 2014-2023 (OIC-SHPA) along with its Implementation Plan and provide an opportunity for the Ministers and Representatives of the Member States to review the status of health in OIC, examine major health-related issues and identify concrete measures for strengthening cooperation among the OIC member countries with regard to health infrastructures, education, training, capacity building, disease surveillance, prevention and control as well as self-reliance in drugs and vaccine production. Prof. Savas Alpay, Director General, and Mr. Mazhar Hussain, Senior Researcher, represented the Centre thereat.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Economic Cooperation Organization Secretariat (ECO) jointly organized CountrySTAT Regional Basic Administrator Training for ECO Member Countries on 21-25 October 2013. The event was held at SESRIC headquarters in Ankara, Turkey.

The 7th Meeting of the OIC Steering Committee on Health was held in Jakarta on 21 and 24 October 2013 in two parts (Part 1 on 21 October 2013 and Part 2 on 24 October). Part 1 of the meeting, inter alia, reviewed the preparation for the 4th ICHM including approving the draft Implementation Plan of the OIC-SHPA, the composition of the Bureau for the Conference, draft resolutions and draft declaration and implementation plan of the vaccine manufacturers. Whereas, Part 2 was basically held for H.E. Minister of Health of Kazakhstan to hand over the chairmanship of SCH to H.E. Minister of Health of Indonesia.

The 28th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), which was held in Istanbul in October 2012, decided on “Increasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Flows to OIC Member Countries” as the theme for the Exchange of Views at its 29th Session, which will be held in November 2013, and requested SESRIC, IDB and COMCEC Coordination Office (CCO), to organize a workshop on this theme and submit its report to the next COMCEC session.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised, in collaboration with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and the Aegean International Federation of Health (ESAFED) a training course for 9 medical doctors from the USTTB – Bamako University Medical Faculty in Izmir, Republic of Turkey. The training course that was scheduled from 15 July until 27 September 2013 was provided in several training and research hospitals approved by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey. The training course ended with a certificate ceremony in Izmir.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised a consultative meeting on “OIC Initiative of Learning Cities”, on 26 September 2013, in Ankara, Republic of Turkey. The meeting took place in the Headquarters of SESRIC.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) was represented in the ECO-RCC Inception workshop in Ankara, Turkey on 23-24 September 2013 by Mr. Abdulhaki Körbayram, Researcher and Mr. Efe Kerem Aydın, Programme Coordinator. The workshop was jointly organised by Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), ECO Regional Coordination Centre for Food Security (ECO-RCC) and Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry of Turkey. The workshop was attended by delegations of ECO Member Countries, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey and also by representatives of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), ECO Regional Seed Association (ECOSA) and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) will organize an international conference on official statitics titled “Efficient Statistical Information System for the State Building” on 23-25 September 2013 in Ramallah, Palestine to celebrate the 20th anniversary of PCBS and to launch the National Strategy of Development for Statistics 2014-2018.

The official opening ceremony of the Turkey Country Office of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group was held on 19 September 2013 in Ankara, Turkey at the SESRIC headquarters. The IDB Group decided to launch its first country gateway office ever in Turkey, following the hosting agreement signed early 2013. The ceremony has been attended by H.E. Abdullah Gül, President of Turkey, H.E. Ali Babacan, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, H.E. Beşir Atalay, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, Dr. Ahmed Mohamad Ali, President of the IDB Group, Ambassadors of OIC Member Countries, high-level government officials, country representatives of international institutions and eminent personalities.

The Centre organised a training course on 'Statistical Data Analysis' at the Central Department of Statistics and Information in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 16-19 September 2013. The course was provided by Dr. Ali Said, an expert from the BPS-Statistics, Indonesia.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), in collaboration with United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) jointly organized the Regional Seminar on “Developing a Programme for the Implementation of the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA) and Supporting Statistics for ECO Member Countries” on 11-13 September 2013. The Seminar was hosted by SESRIC at its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. Seventy-four participants from national statistical offices (NSO), central banks (CB), and relevant government offices of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkey; and from international organisations including ECO, UNSD, UNECE, and UNESCAP attended the Seminar. Additionally, representatives of Germany (Destatis and GIZ) and Norway (SSB-Statistics Norway) took part in the Seminar. The Centre was represented by Mr. Atilla Karaman, Acting Director of Statistics and Information Department; Ms. Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, Senior Researcher; Mr. Syed Tahir Mahmud, Researcher, Mr. Abdulhamit Öztürk, Research Assistant, and Mr. Abdullah Al Mamoun, Intern.

The SESRIC, in collaboration with the Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB), Borsa İstanbul, Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), and the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD), organized the “International Forum on Financial Systems (IFFS)”, which was held on 11-12 September 2013 at WOW Convention Center in İstanbul, Turkey. The Forum brought together world-renowned intellectuals including eminent economists, statesmen and policy-makers, heads of international organisations, as well as industry practitioners to explore the potential avenues for building a more just, inclusive and stable financial system for generations to come.

The Centre organized a training course on “Metadata Preparation and Management” at the National Bureau of Statistics, United Arab Emirates on 9-11 September 2013. The course was provided by Ms. Nalan Eviren, an expert from the Turkish Statistical Institute with the participation of relevant staff members of National Bureau of Statistics, United Arab Emirates.

Jointly with the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of the Islamic Development Bank Group, Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS) of the Qatar Foundation’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, and the International Association of Islamic Economics (IAIE), SESRIC has organized the 9th International Conference on Islamic Economics and Finance (9ICIEF). The Conference was held in WoW Convention Centre in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, on 9-10 September 2013 under the theme “Growth, Equity and Stability: An Islamic Perspective”.