The 12^th Meeting of the OIC Steering Committee on Health (SCH) was hosted by the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 6-7 November 2017 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Steering Committee was attended by representatives of member countries and the relevant OIC and UN institutions, and discussed, inter alia, the status of implementation of the decisions and resolutions adopted by the Fifth Islamic Conference of Health Ministers held in Turkey on 17-19 November 2015, as well as the implementation of the OIC Strategic Health Programme of Action 2014-2023 (SHPA).

In accordance with its 2017 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Study Visit on ‘Classifications’ for the benefit of Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) on 25 – 27 October 2017. The Study Visit was hosted by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The Workshop on Islamic Finance in the National Accounts was held on 24-26 October 2017 in Beirut, Lebanon. The workshop was jointly organised by the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNSD) and the Statistics Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Mrs. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK, Director of Statistics and Information Department, represented the Centre thereat.

SESRIC and the NGO World signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 23 October 2017 at SESRIC HQ in order to enhance their cooperation on developing the capacities of NGOs in the OIC member countries.

In accordance with its 2017 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Household Surveys’ at the General Bureau of Statistics (GBS) of Republic of Suriname on 23 – 25 October 2017.

OIC-NGOs Academy arranged a capacity building workshop for NGOs on Effective Non-profit Leadership & Management as side event for the NGO’s representatives participating at the “International City and Civil Society Organisations” Summit (20-22 October) at Yıldız Technical University 2010 European Capital of Culture Congress and Culture Centre, Istanbul. The Summit was organised by Esenler Municipality in which delegates from 60 countries participated and total 35 sessions were delivered.

SESRIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ensar Foundation, a non-profit organisation, to initiate and facilitate collaboration and cooperation between two organisations in matters of common interest.

In accordance with its 2017 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Agricultural Censuses and Registers’ at National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Maldives on 10 – 12 October 2017.

The Training Workshop on Gender and Elections was jointly organized by the OIC General Secretariat and the UN Electoral Assistance Division and hosted by SESRIC on 10-12 October 2017 in Ankara, Republic of Turkey.

In accordance with its 2017 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘International Trade Statistics’ at Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on 9 – 11 October 2017.

The ‘Regional Meeting of Labour Statisticians in Preparation for the 20^th International Conference on Labour Statisticians (ICLS)’ was organised by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with SESRIC and GCC-STAT on 9 - 11 October 2017 in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

SESRIC and Yunus Emre Institute started a joint Training Programme for Syrian and Iraqi Refugees residing in Turkey on 7 October 2017 in Ankara, Turkey.

SESRIC signed a Cooperation Agreement with the Universal Postal Union and La Poste Tunisienne to establish a framework for implementing joint cooperation projects in the Arab Region. The agreement was signed on 05 October 2017.

In accordance with its 2017 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Business Surveys’ at the General Bureau of Statistics (GBS) of Republic of Suriname on 5 – 6 October 2017.

In accordance with its 2017 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Transport Statistics’ at State Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 03-05 October 2017.

Hosted by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat), the Thirtieth Session of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) was held in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. The Session was attended by representatives of international and supranational agencies including AfDB, AITRS, Eurostat, FAO, GCCStat, IMF, OECD, PARIS21, SESRIC, UNCTAD, UNECA African Centre for Statistics, UNECE, UNEP, UNESCAP, UNESCWA, UNFPA, UN-Habitat, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNODC, UNPD, UNSD, UNWTO, and World Bank. H.E. Amb. Musa KULAKLIKAYA, Director General, and Dr. Atilla KARAMAN, Researcher, represented the Centre thereat.

SESRIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the General of Occupational Health and Safety (DGOHS) of Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Republic of Turkey to strengthen cooperation in matters of common interests. The MoU was signed during a ceremony held at the SESRIC HQ on 26 September 2017 in Ankara Turkey.

On 26 September 2017, SESRIC and ICFYDC hold the High-Level International Conference on the “State of Muslim Youth” in OIC Member Countries in Istanbul, Turkey. H.E. Amb. Musa Kulaklıkaya, SESRIC Director General, H.E. Amb. Elshad Iskandarov, ICYF-DC President, and H.E. Mr. Osman Aşkın Bak, Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Turkey made the opening ceremony.

In accordance with its 2017 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Metadata’ at National Institute of Statistics and Economic Analysis (INSAE) of Benin on 26 – 28 September 2017.

SESRIC organized in collaboration with the Post Mauritania a training course on “Parcel, Logistics, and Express Services” within the framework of the OIC Postal Services Capacity Building Programme (OIC PS-CaB) on 26-27 September 2017 in Nouakchott, Mauritania.