In conjunction with the OIC Day Celebration, Director General of SESRIC Prof. Savaş Alpay addressed to a roundtable discussion on “South-South Cooperation: the role of regional and intergovernmental organisations and multilateral institutions in promoting and intensifying cooperation among developing countries – lessons learned and best practices” organized by the Permanent Delegation of the OIC to the United Nations Office in Geneva on 29 September 2014. The main objective of the discussion was to share the opinions of the various partners on how to best improve South-South cooperation both inside and between specific regional groupings, as well as getting valuable knowledge from the different experiences acquired by some developing countries, in order for other countries to benefit from it, in building their strategic plans and reaching their sustainable development goals.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised a training programme on Foreign Exchange Reserve and Risk Management in Istanbul, Turkey, on 29th September – 1st October, 2014, within the framework of OIC Central Banks Capacity Building Programme (OIC-CB-CaB), in collaboration with Istanbul School of Banking (ISB). The course took place with the participation of experts from 7 OIC Member Countries, namely, Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Tajikistan and Uganda.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and National Agency of Statistics and Demography (ANSD) of Senegal have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to facilitate collaboration and cooperation between both institutions within the framework of the “Integration of the ‘Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS)’ into the National Surveys in OIC Member States” project. The MoA was signed on 25 September 2014 by Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, and Mr. Aboubacar Beye, Director General of ANSD of Senegal.

The Centre has organised a training course on ‘Occupational Hygiene’ in collaboration with Development & Perfection International Center (DPIC) of the Ministry of Labor & Administrative Reform in Sudan on 23-25 September 2014. The training course was provided by two experts, namely Mr. Nihat EĞRİ, Director of Occupational Health and Safety Center (ISGUM), and Mr. Hüseyin SEZEK, Kocaeli Laboratory Chief under Occupational Health and Safety Center (ISGUM), affiliated to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Turkey.

The 4^th Meeting of the COMCEC Poverty Alleviation Working Group will be held on September 18th, 2014 in Ankara with the theme of “Institutional System of the Social Safety Net Programmes in the OIC Member Countries”. During the meeting, the delegates will discuss the policy options for improving institutional structure, capacity and efficiency of the current SSN programmes, country experiences as well as the challenges faced, employed good practices and the role of non-govermental organisations and international institutions in order to contribute to the national strategies for poverty alleviation.

The Centre, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Turkey, organised a training course on "Medical Emergency Management” within the framework of the IbnSina Health Capacity Building Programme (IbnSina-HCaB) at the office of The Emergency and Relief Corporation of Lebanon, in Tripoli, Lebanon, on 17-18 September 2014. The Course was provided by Dr. Hasan Odabaşıoğlu, Medical Doctor with expertise on Disaster Medicine in İzmir, Turkey.

SESRIC participated in International Drought and Desertification Symposium which was jointly organised by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs of Republic of Turkey and Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in Konya, Turkey on 16 September–20 September 2014.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on 'Price Statistics' at the Central Statistics Organization (CSO) of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Kabul on 15-17 September 2014 within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The Course was conducted by Dr. Mohammad Sadegh Alipour, an expert of the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI) with participation of relevant officials of CSO of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The Centre organised three consecutive training courses on Financial Stability, Financial Crises and Monetary Policy in Istanbul, Turkey, on 15-19 September 2014, within the framework of OIC Central Banks Capacity Building Programme (OIC-CB-CaB), in collaboration with Istanbul School of Banking (ISB). The course took place with the participation of experts from 10 OIC Member Countries, namely, Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Uganda.

The Fourth Meeting of the COMCEC Transport Working Group was held on September 12th, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme “Developing Air Linkages to Sustain Tourism among the OIC Member States”. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 14 OIC Member States including Afghanistan, Benin, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia, Niger, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Uganda. Representatives from the COMCEC Coordination Office, IDB (Islamic Development Bank), Turkish Airlines, Air Arabia, ATM Dalaman Airport and ICF International have also attended the Meeting. The Centre was represented thereat by Dr. Cem Tintin, Researcher and Mr. Omercan Kulaklıkaya, Researcher.

The Twenty-Fourth Session of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) was held in Rome, Italy on 11-12 September 2014. Being the co-chair of the Committee, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted the session.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on 'Science, Technology and Innovation Statistics' at the Agency on Statistics (AoS) in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan on 10-12 September 2014, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The Course was provided by Mr. Devrim Yagan, Statistics Expert at the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) with the participation of relevant officials of the AoS.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on 'Data Dissemination and Data Warehousing' at the National Institute of Statistics (INS) of Cote d'Ivoire in Abidjan 9-11 September 2014 within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The Course was conducted by Mr. Baye Demba Diack, an expert of the National Agency of Statistics and Demographics (ANSD) of Senegal with participation of relevant officials of INS of Cote d'Ivoire.

The Indonesia report is the fourth country study to be published as part of Atlas of Islamic World Science and Innovation project. The report offers an assessment of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) landscape in Indonesia, which inhabits the world’s biggest Muslim population.

The Fourth Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on 04 September 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme “Enhancing the Capacity of Tourism Workforce in the OIC Member Countries for Improved Tourism Service Quality”.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the training course on ‘Metadata and Process Management’ at the State Statistical Committee (SSC) in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan on 28-29 August 2014, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The course was provided by Mr. Gökhan Gürgeç, Statistics Expert at Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) with participation of relevant officials of SCC.

The Centre has organised successfully a training course on ‘International OSH Regulations’ at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Bangladesh on 26-27th August 2014. The training course was provided by Ms. Ramuna MOHAMED and Ms. Salina TUKIMIN, both from the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of Human Resources, Malaysia.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Business Surveys on Service Statistics’ at the Agency on Statistics (AoS) in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan on 25-27 August 2014. The Course was provided by Mr. Yusuf Kenan Orhan, Statistics Expert at the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) with the participation of relevant officials of the AoS.

The OPHI Summer School on Multidimensional Poverty Analysis was organized by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), an economic research centre within the Oxford Department of International Development at the University of Oxford on 11-23 August 2014.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Programme on 'Data Dissemination and Data Warehousing' at the State Statistical Committee (SSC) in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan on 11-13 August 2014, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The Course was provided by Mrs. Medine Akyıldız, Statistics Expert at Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) with participation of relevant officials of SSC.