SESRIC has organised a Training Course on “Personal Protective Equipment” in Bendar Sari Begawan, Brunei Darussalam on 9-11 August 2016. The training course was provided by OSH experts at the General Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety (DGOHS) under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Turkey with the attendance of participants from the Ministry of Health, Brunei Darussalam.

In accordance with its 2016 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC has organised the Training Course on ‘Tourism Statistics’ at Suriname Tourism Foundation of Republic of Suriname on 9-11 August 2016.

SESRIC organised in collaboration with the DSI (Devlet Su İşleri) and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) a Technical Visit on “Water Resources Management” within the framework of the OIC Water Resources Management Capacity Building Programme (Water-CaB) in Istanbul, Akcakoca, Kastomonu, Samsun, Rize, Artvin, Bayburt, Amasya and Bolu on 08-19 August 2016. The Technical Visit was provided by experts from DSI’s 14th Regional Office, Istanbul Turkey. The target group of this Technical Visit was the trainers from Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Mauritania, Ministry of Water and Mineral Resources, Somalia, Ministry for Water & Sanitation, Senegal and Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda.

The Third Meeting of the MEDSTAT IV Working Group on Statistical Business Registers (SBR) was organised by Eurostat in collaboration with Expertise Française in Istanbul, Turkey on 26-28 July 2016. 17 official statisticians and experts from Algeria, Egypt, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Turkey participated in the Working Group Meeting. Dr. Atilla Karaman, Researcher at the Statistics and Information Department, represented SESRIC at the Meeting.

The 39^th Session of the Islamic Commission for Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs (ICECS) was held at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 23-25 July 2016. The Session has been attended by the representatives of the OIC member countries and those of the OIC and its subsidiary, specialised and affiliated institutions.

SESRIC organised a panel on “Investment in OIC Member States and Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals” on the sideline of the World Investment Forum 2016 which took place in Nairobi, Kenya on 17-21 July 2016 in conjunction with the Fourteenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Ministerial Meeting (UNCTAD 14).

SESRIC organised a technical training course on “Occupational Health” in Ankara, Turkey on 18-23 July 2016. The technical training course was provided by the OSH experts at the General Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety (DGOHS) under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Turkey with the attendance of participants from the Inspectorate of Labour and Social Services, Republic of Albania. The participants were awarded with the certification of attendance to the technical training course at the end.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), organised, in collaboration with the National Social Security Fund of Tunisia, a training course on “Pension System” within the framework of the OIC Capacity Building Programme for Social Security Institutions (SSI-CaB) in Lome, Togo on 11-12 July 2016.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and National Institute of Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED) of the Republic of Chad 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”.

SESRIC participated in the 4^th Annual Focal Points Meeting of the COMCEC Working Groups organised by the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) in Ankara, Republic of Turkey on 1-2 June 2016.

SESRIC, SETA and OIC-ICHAD jointly organised a workshop on “Roadmap for the Education of Syrian Refugee Children” in Istanbul, Turkey on 01-02 June 2016. The workshop was attended by the representatives of the government agencies, NGOs and international institutions.

The 15^th Session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) General Assembly was held in Islamabad on 31 May-01 June 2016, under the Chairmanship of H.E. Mr. Mamnoon Hussain, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Chairman of COMSTECH.

In collaboration with the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of the Republic of Turkey, SESRIC organised a Theoretical and Practical Training Course on “Plant Tissue Culture Technology Transfer” within the framework of the OIC Agriculture Capacity Building Programme (OIC-AgriCaB) in Bademli, Izmir, Turkey on 30 May – 02 June 2016. The training course was provided by experts from Bademli Agricultural Development Cooperative for Arboriculture, Turkey. The target group of this training course was the experts from Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Genetic Resources Institute.

SESRIC in collaboration with Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of the Republic of Turkey organised a Study Visit on “Development of Sustainable Aquaculture for OIC Countries” within the framework of the OIC Agriculture Capacity Building Programme (OIC-AgriCaB) on 30 May- 03 June 2016 in Muğla and Izmir, Turkey.

The First World Humanitarian Summit was hosted by the Turkish Government in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey on 23-24 May 2016. The Summit convened 9000 participants from 173 Member States, including 55 Heads of State and Government, hundreds of private sector representatives, and thousands of people from civil society and non-governmental organisations.

The 3^rd Session of the Islamic Conference for Ministers Responsible for Water was held on 17-19 May 2016 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey. The Conference was hosted by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The 19^th Meeting of COMSATS Coordinating Council was held in Islamabad, Pakistan on 17-18 May 2016. The meeting was hosted by COMSATS’ Centre of Excellence, the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) in Pakistan.

The 3^rd Islamic Conference of Ministers Responsible of Water took place in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey on 17-19 May 2016. Delegations from 41 OIC Member States participated in the conference. The Conference, held under the theme “From Vision to Action”, discussed implementation of the OIC Water Vision to enhance cooperation among the OIC Member States on water-related issues.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Centre for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM) jointly organised a training program for enhancing the capacity of Al-Nahrain Center for Strategic Studies, within the framework of its OIC NGO Capacity Building Programme, on 16-20 May 2016 in Ankara, Turkey.

The 41^st Annual Meeting of the IDB Group Board of Governors was held in Jakarta, Indonesia during 15-19 May 2016, with the theme “Enhancing Growth and Poverty Alleviation through Infrastructure Development and Financial Inclusion”. The annual meeting gathers IDB’s Governors, mostly finance and economy ministers, in addition to hundreds of policy makers and top leaders from its international and regional partner institutions. The Annual Meeting also provides its stakeholders a platform to explore practical solutions, strengthen partnership and cooperation between its member countries. H.E. Ambassador Musa Kulaklıkaya, Director General, and Dr. Kenan Bağcı, senior researcher, represented the Centre at the meeting.