SESRIC attended the Informal Online Meeting of the Working Party on Development Finance Statistics (WP-STAT) which was held as a 4-day programme during 22-25 June 2020. The informal online meeting brought together more than 120 members of WP-STAT from development and/or planning ministries, national statistical offices and development finance agencies of OECD-Development Assistance Committee (DAC) member countries as well as Non-DAC members. SESRIC participated the meeting as an observer as part of its membership since July 2017 in the Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD) Task Force.

Within the framework of SESRIC’s Central Banks Capacity Building Programme (CB-CaB), the Centre organized a training course on "Islamic Financial Instruments" on 22-26 June 2020.

SESRIC participated in the Global Expert Group on Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons Statistics (EGRIS) Meeting held virtually on 19 June 2020 organised by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The meeting discussed the draft plan for EGRIS Phase III including the scope of work as outlined in ToR, structure of EGRIS and the proposed technical subgroups with a focus on dissemination and promotion, capacity building, and knowledge sharing and refinement of Compilers Manual.

The Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) Member States was held on 17 June 2020 under the theme of ‘Sustainability of Cultural Action in the Face of Crises (Covid-19)’. The Conference virtually brought together Ministers responsible for Culture from ICESCO Member States alongside representatives of several OIC institutions, regional and international organizations. The Conference was chaired by H.E. Ms. Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development of the United Arab Emirates.

SESRIC participated in the COMCEC Project Funding (CPF) Online Training conducted on a weekly basis between 10 June and 8 July through a dedicated virtual meeting platform hosted by the Presidency of Strategy and Budget under the Presidency of Republic of Turkey. Project coordinators and contact persons whose projects were final-listed for financing in the 2020 implementation period of CPF participated in the weekly sessions.

Within the framework of SESRIC’s OIC Tourism Capacity Building Programme (Tr-CaB), the Centre organized a training of trainers (ToT) course on “Promoting Entrepreneurship for Tourism Industry Competitiveness” on 08-12 June 2020 in its efforts to commemorate Gabala, as the OIC City of Tourism 2020.

SESRIC participated in two extraordinary sessions of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) held virtually on 4 May and 18 June 2020. Dr. Atilla Karaman, Director of Statistics and Information of SESRIC, and Ms. Nenden Octavarulia Shanty, Researcher, represented SESRIC in the sessions.

SESRIC organized a training course on “Application of Advanced Technology for the Enhancement of Cotton Productivity” on 27 April - 01 May 2020 through a video conferencing platform. The course was based on synchronous learning and instruction approaches.

The extraordinary meeting of the OIC Steering Committee on Health (SCH) on the novel Coronavirus was held on 9 April 2020. The meeting was organized via video conference by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and chaired by H.E. Abdul-Rahman Bin Mohamed Al-Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Chair of the Seventh Islamic Conference of Health Ministers (ICHM). The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Health, members of the OIC-SCH, along with representatives of OIC institutions and a number of international organizations.

SESRIC, in its capacity as the Secretariat of the OIC Statistical Commission (OIC-StatCom), organised the Follow-up Meeting of the OIC-StatCom on 5 March 2020 as a side event of the 51^st Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in New York, USA. 35 delegates from 17 OIC member countries including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Gambia, Indonesia, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Mozambique, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, and Uzbekistan, as well as 3 international organisations including Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS), Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-STAT), and United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), and 2 partner institutions (CDC and CDC Foundation).

The delegation of SESRIC headed by HE Mr. Nebil Dabur, Director General, and composed of Dr. Atilla Karaman, Director of Statistics and Information Department, and Ms. Nenden Octavarulia Shanty, Researcher, participated in the 51^st Session of UN Statistical Commission (UNSC) and its side events on 2-5 March 2020 in New York.

The Graduation Ceremony of the “NAMA Competition for Entrepreneurship” took place on 02 March 2020 at BINA Incubator in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey. The event was organized within the framework of the “SME Development and Empowerment Project” of the BINA Program, which is a joint initiative of the SESRIC, the Libyan Program for Reintegration and Development (LPRD) and the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB).

SESRIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with OSTIM Technical University to facilitate and strengthen cooperation in the areas of common interests.

SESRIC participated in the workshop on “Trade in Services Negotiations Techniques in OIC Member Countries” which was organized by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) in Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco, on 12-13 February 2020.

SESRIC participated in the symposium on “Working Together for a Water-Secure Future” which was organized by the Inter-Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management (INWRDAM) in Amman, Jordan on 09 February 2020. The symposium was held under the patronage of HRH Prince Hassan Bin Talal and attended by the focal points of INWRDAM Member States along with the professionals, decision makers, and academicians working in the domain of water. Mr. Fadi Farasin, Assistant Director General, represented the Centre thereat.

SESRIC hosted a delegation from the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar at its Headquarters in Ankara, Turkey on 04 February 2020.

The Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) and the OIC General Secretariat jointly organized the “International Workshop on Sustainable Cities: Issues and Challenges of Rapid Urbanization” on 28-29 January, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The Steering Committee Meeting of the BINA Program was held on 20 January 2020 at SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Turkey to discuss the progress made from the last meeting and the future actions with respect to the implementation of the Program. The Meeting was attended by high-level representatives from the partnering institutions namely, SESRIC, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Libyan Program for Reintegration and Development (LPRD).

SESRIC organized in collaboration with IsDB, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), Nazilli Cotton Research Institute (CRI) of Turkey and Cotton Development Board (CDB) of the Ministry of Agriculture of Bangladesh, a training course on “New Approaches in Cotton Agronomy: Sowing Experiments” on 19-30 January 2020 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

On 19-20 January 2020, the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in coordination with the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA) hosted the “Workshop on spreading the Family Bank Experience in the G5 Sahel Countries” in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.