The Centre has organised a training course on “Occupational Hygiene” within the framework of Capacity Building Programme for Occupational Safety and Health (OIC-OSHCaB) on 11-13 August 2014 in Paramaribo, Suriname. The Course was provided by Occupational Health and Safety Centre, Republic of Turkey and was attended by staff members of the Foundation for Innovation, Health and Safety Centre, Suriname.

The Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on Enhancing National Capacities of OIC Member Countries in Poverty Statistics was held on 7-8 August 2014 at SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. The EGM was organized within the general framework of SESRIC poverty project which is among the successful final projects selected for the Project Cycle Management (PCM) Programme of the OIC Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC). The meeting was attended by delegates from 15 member countries, namely Azerbaijan, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Niger, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen. Representatives of Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, Ministry of Family and Social Policies of Republic of Turkey and related NGOs also participated in the meeting.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Economic and Statistical Observatory for Sub-Saharan Africa (AFRISTAT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to initiate and facilitate collaboration and cooperation between both institutions in matters of common interest and to establish the necessary arrangements for their implementation. The MoU was signed on 23 July 2014 by Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, and Mr. Cosme Vodounou, PhD, Director General of AFRISTAT.

Ministers from over 20 countries belonging to the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network (MPPN) gathered in Berlin between 7-8 July 2014 to endorse multidimensional poverty as an overall goal of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and endorse the establishment of a new MPI 2015+ measure of extreme poverty in the post-2015 development context. The network and its participants endorsed Multidimensional Poverty Indices (MPIs) as a powerful policy tool for enhanced poverty reduction at the regional, national and subnational level, with the ability to illuminate the state and progress of marginalised groups.

SESRIC, Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB) and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) sign a very timely MoU concerning expanding their cooperation for enhancing the socio-economic development in the OIC member countries in a more structured manner on 26 June 2014 on the sideline of the 39th IDB Annual Meeting held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The MoU was jointly signed by Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, Dr. Ahmad Muhamed Ali, President of the IDB and Dr. Serdar Çam, President of TIKA.

SESRIC was represented during the “Second High-Level Meeting on Country-led Knowledge Hubs”, which was jointly organised by the World Bank Group and Ministry of Strategy and Finance of the Republic of South Korea 23 and 26 June in Seoul, South Korea in collaboration with Islamic Development Bank, Korea Development Institute, Korea Eximbank and Japan International Cooperation Agency. The second high-level meeting aimed to share and discuss lessons learned on how to develop systematic capacity of country institutions to capture and share development experiences and to review what has been achieved so far since the First High-Level Meeting on Knowledge Hubs, which took place in Bali (Indonesia) in 2012.

The Centre has partnered in the organisation of the Technology Exchange Exhibition that was held in parallel to the Annual Governor’s Meeting and 40th Anniversary of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) during the period 22-26 June 2014 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The event was jointly organized with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) and Technology Transfer & Exchange Network (TTEN) of Developing-8.

The global development cooperation landscape is changing quickly, with emerging powers as well as non-state actors playing an increasing role, and the international community being in search of a more inclusive and flexible model that allows to go beyond the “North-South” divide. This has implications for aid and cooperation modalities, for how knowledge sharing takes place and how traditional and emerging players alike adapt their strategies, structures and priorities. Against this backdrop, the Conference on International Development Cooperation was organized jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA). The Conference took place on 19-20 June 2014 at Çırağan Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. The Conference was held on the theme “Trends and Emerging Opportunities-Perspectives of the New Actors.” High-level policymakers, senior representatives of international development organizations, business leaders and academics from all over the world attended the two-day meeting. SESRIC was represented at the Conference by Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director-General, accompanied by Mr. Nadi Serhan Aydın, Senior Researcher.

The Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held its 41st session in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 18 – 19 June 2014. The ministerial conference, which was held under the theme “Exploring Areas of Islamic Cooperation”, witnessed the transfer of the Council’s chairmanship from the Republic of Guinea to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Conference was addressed by His Royal Highness Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and chairman of the 41st session of the Council of Foreign Ministers.

The First Steering Committee Meeting for the Implementation of the OIC Framework for Cooperation on Labour, Employment and Social Protection was held in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan, on 17-18 June 2014. Representatives from 8 OIC member countries attended the meeting; namely, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Indonesia, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The OIC General Secretariat, Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and SESRIC also attended the meeting. SESRIC was represented by Dr. Kenan Bagci, Senior Researcher, at the meeting.

SESRIC organised a Summer School on Islamic Economics and Finance in collaboration with Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, the Durham Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance, Borsa Istanbul and Participation Banks Association of Turkey on 17-20 June 2014. The main purpose of the summer school was to give fundamental knowledge about Islamic finance and economics and provide an opportunity for the specialists in the field to cooperate and promote Islamic finance.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on 'Social Accounting Matrices' at the National Statistical Office (ONS) Islamic Republic of Mauritania in Nouakchott on 17-19 June 2014 within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The Course was provided by Ms. Bahija Nali, Statistics Expert at HCP of Kingdom of Morocco with participation of relevant officials of ONS.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on 'Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries Statistics' at the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in Kampala, Republic of Uganda on 17-18 June 2014 within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The Course was provided by Ms. Tugba Gocmen, Statistics Expert at Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) with participation of relevant officials of UBOS.

The Centre (SESRIC) was represented in the “Global Tobacco Control Leadership Program” in Baltimore, Maryland – United States, on 09-20 June 2014 by Mr. Ömercan Kulaklıkaya, Research Assistant. The programme was organised by Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The programme was attended by 109 tobacco control advocates from 25 countries including some OIC member countries, namely Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Sudan, Turkey and Uganda.

The 6th International Economic Summit of Russia and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries was held on June 5-6th, 2014, in the International Information Centre in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation. Kazan Summit 2014 was organized by the Islamic Business and Finance Development Foundation (IBDF), a non-profit fund which was founded in 2009 in Kazan, in cooperation with the Tatarstan Investment Development Agency (TIDA), and held under the patronage and with the participation of H.E. Mr. Rustam Nurgalievich Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan. Other key participants of the Sixth Summit included, inter alia, H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu, Minister of European Union (EU) Affairs and Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Turkey, H.E. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), H.E. Sultan Al-Khater, Deputy Minister of Economy of the State of Qatar, Mr. Konstantin Shuvalov, Ambassador at Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation, Mr. Ilyas Umakhanov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russian Federation, and Mr. Bronzatto Carlos, CEO of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA). Around 500 other participants from 26 countries and 14 Russian regions, including deputy ministers and ambassadors, representatives of national and international organizations, business leaders, and academics, also attended the Summit. The OIC was represented thereat through its delegation comprising Mr. Ahmed Al Haddad, Ambassador and Director of Economic Affairs at the OIC General Secretariat, and Mr. Nadi Serhan Aydın, Senior Researcher at SESRIC.

The World Bank Group organized “Turkey Financial Inclusion Conference” between 3 and 4 June in Istanbul, Turkey in collaboration with Undersecretariat of Treasury of Turkey, Capital Markets Board of Turkey, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency of Turkey and Borsa Istanbul. The conference aimed to discuss the stance of financial inclusion in Turkey in comparative perspective and implications of Turkey’s new ‘Financial Inclusion Strategy’.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Environment Statistics’ at the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) in Tirana, Republic of Albania on 27-28 May 2014 within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The Course was provided by Ms. Semiha Nurdan Gedik, Statistics Expert at Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) with participation of relevant officials of INSTAT.

The Centre organised, in collaboration with the Ministry of Family and Social Policies Republic of Turkey, a training course on “Social Assistance & Aid Programmes” within the framework of the OIC Poverty Alleviation Programme (OIC-PAP) on 26-28 May 2014 in Banjul, The Gambia. The course was provided by Mr. Ersin Kaya, Social Policy Expert at the Department of Employment and was attended by several experts from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of The Gambia.

The 4th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) was held on 20-21 May 2014 in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China.

The regular biennial OIC-UN General Coordination Meeting was held in Istanbul on 20-22 May 2014. The meeting reviewed the joint cooperation activities carried out by the two major international organisations in the political and economic fronts as well as in science and technology during the last two years and explore new areas of cooperation for the future based on mutual areas of interest, including partnership projects and programmes. The Biennial OIC-UN General Coordination Meeting is the institutional framework of exchange of views, discussions and coordination between the two major international organizations and it is attended by high level delegations from both the OIC General Secretariat and specialized agencies of OIC and the UN.