In accordance with its 2015 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the training course on 'Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Statistics' at the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBOS) in Banjul on 16-18 June 2015. The course was conducted by Mr. Victor Uttah, Senior Statistician at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Nigeria, with the participation of relevant officials of the GBOS.

The Centre organised, in collaboration with the Ministry of General Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco, a training course on "Basics of Competition Law" within the framework of the OIC Capacity Building Programme for Competition Authorities (OIC-CA-CaB) on 15-16 June 2015 in Lomé, Togo. The course was provided by Mr. Bousselmame El Hassane, Director of Competition, Awards and Investment Promotion of the Ministry of General Affairs and Governance, with the participation of relevant members of the Ministry of Trade and Promotion of the Private sector, Republic of Togo.

In accordance with its 2015 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the technical mission on 'Module 1: CPI Re-Basing' to the Central Statistics Organization (CSO) of Afghanistan on 13-19 June 2015, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The mission was conducted by Dr. Mohammadsadegh Alipour, Expert at the Statistical Centre of Iran.

“Women-Friendly Cities United Nations Joint Programme” (UNJP) was initiated in 2006 with the aim of mainstreaming gender equality in planning and programming processes of local administrations. The Women Friendly Cities UNJP aimed at empowering local administrations and women’s organizations for establishing strong collaboration among them. After the completion of the 1st phase in 2010, the 2nd phase of the United Nations Women Friendly Cities Joint Programme was initiated in April 2011 and finalized in 10-11 June 2015 with an international conference held in Ankara. Mrs. Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk and Dr. Cem Tintin represented the Centre thereat.

Within the framework of the OIC Tourism Capacity Building Programme (Tr-CaB), SESRIC organised the Training Course on “Management of Tourism in Protected Areas " at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) in Riyadh on 08-10 June 2015. The course was conducted by the experts Ms. Begum Soysal, and Mr. Mustafa Kaymak from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey with the participation of relevant officials of the SCTH.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Statistical, Economic, Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organized a side event during the 40th Annual Meeting of the IDB Group, which was held in Maputo, Mozambique during 7-11 June 2015. The side event was held on 8 June 2015 with the theme of “Disaster Risk Management Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa”.

In accordance with its 2015 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the training course on 'Financial Statistics and National Accounts Compilations' at the National Statistical Office (ONS) of People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria on 8-11 June 2015. The course was conducted by Mr. Mohamed Adel Souidene, Central Director of National Accounts, National Institute of Statistics (INS) of Republic of Tunisia, with the participation of 19 officials of the ONS of Algeria.

The First Meeting of National Focal Points (NFPs) for the OIC Water Vision took place on 3-5 June 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey. The meeting was attended by the National Focal Points from OIC Member States, OIC Institutions, and Observers. SESRIC was presented in the meeting by Senior Researcher Mr. Mazhar Hussain and Researcher Mr. Fadi Farasin. SESRIC updated the attendees on its water related activities along four dimensions reflecting the core areas of its mandate i.e. statistics, data dissemination, research, and training.

SESRIC organised, in collaboration with Turkish State Railways (TCDD), Middle-East Railway Training Center (MERTCe) and International Union of Railways (UIC), a training workshop on the “Carriage of Dangerous Goods: the legal framework and challenges for employees” on 02-04 June at Eskişehir, Turkey.

The First Meeting of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) took place on 1-2 June 2015 in New York with the attendance of a large spread of representatives from National Statistics Offices (NSOs), international organizations, and civil society entities. Dr. Atilla Karaman, Senior Researcher at the Statistics and Information Department, represented the SESRIC thereat.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and Agency on Statistics under President of the Republic of Tajikistan signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to facilitate collaboration and cooperation between both institutions within the framework of the project titled “Integration of the ‘Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS)’ into the National Surveys in Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States”. The MoA was signed on 01 June 2015 by H.E. Amb. Musa KULAKLIKAYA, Director General of SESRIC, and Mrs. Gulnora HASANZODA, Director of Agency on Statistics under President of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), organised a training course on ‘Financial Stability’ at the Central Bank of Islamic Republic of Iran on 01-02 June 2015, within the framework of OIC Central Banks Capacity Building Programme (CB-CaB). The Course was provided by Mr. Mahir Binici, Economist, Banking and Financial Institutions Department of Istanbul School of Central Banking and was attended by relevant members of the Central Bank of Islamic Republic of Iran.

Ambassador Musa KULAKLIKAYA, Director General of SESRIC, paid a courtesy visit to Mrs. Mariam Al-Aqeel, Director General of Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) of Kuwait and Member of SESRIC Board of Directors, in Kuwait on 28 May 2015.

The 42^nd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was hosted by the State of Kuwait and held in Kuwait City on 27-28 May 2015 under the theme “Session of Joint Vision for Promotion of Tolerance and Denunciation of Terrorism”. The meeting came at a time when various critical issues and conflicts are currently affecting the region of the OIC member countries and the Muslim world as a whole.

The Centre in collaboration with Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (ICCIA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (KOSGEB) of Turkey and Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI) of Uganda organised a training course on ‘‘Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Development’’ in Kampala, Uganda on 25-26 May 2015.

The Centre organised a training course on “Investor and Financial Community Awareness” at the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) on 25-26 May 2015, within the framework of OIC Capacity Building Programme for Stock Exchanges (OIC-SEP). The Course was provided by the Mr. Hüseyin Evren Arık, Senior Specialist of Borsa İstanbul, Republic of Turkey, with the participation of relevant members of the AMBD. The participants are awarded by a certificate of attendance to the training course at the closure.

The Fourth Meeting of the Forum of Euro-Mediterranean Statisticians, organized by the Eurostat, was held on 19-20 May 2015 in Luxembourg with the participation of 32 representatives from National Statistics Offices (NSOs) of the Mediterranean Region including Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia as OIC Member Countries, the NSOs of European Union and other European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)-South Countries, and international organizations including European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and SESRIC. Dr. Atilla Karaman, Senior Researcher at the Statistics and Information Department, represented the Centre thereat

The Centre organised a training course on “Occupational Hygiene” in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Turkey on 19-20 May 2015. The training course was provided by Mr. İsmail Fırat Yavuzdemir, Department of Occupational Safety and Health, with the attendance of participants from the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Republic of Azerbaijan.

In accordance with its 2015 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the training course on 'Tourism Statistics' at the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan (AZSTAT) on 18-20 May 2015, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The course was conducted by Mr. Muharrem Ozcelik, Expert at the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), with participation of relevant officials of AZSTAT.

The Centre, in collaboration with D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution (ARDSI) of Turkey, organised a workshop on ‘‘Rural Development Policies’’ on 14-15 May 2015 in Ankara, Turkey. The workshop was attended by the related experts from OIC Member Countries which are also in the constitution of D-8. Two technical visits were also held within the frame of the above title.