The 31^st Meeting of the Follow-up Committee of the COMCEC was held on 13-14 May 2015 in Ankara, Turkey, with the participation of the member countries of the Committee (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, Kuwait, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Qatar, Mali and Niger). The OIC General Secretariat and the following subsidiary, affiliated and specialised organs (SESRIC, ICDT, IDB, ICCIA, OISA and SMIIC) attended the Meeting.

The Fifth Session of the Statistical Commission of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-StatCom) was co-organised by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on 12-14 May 2015 at SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Republic of Turkey.

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 'Analysis of Household Income and Expenditure Data' at the Central Statistics Bureau (CSB) in Kuwait City, State of Kuwait on 11-14 May 2015. The course was conducted by Mr. Mehmet Ali Karadag, Expert at the Turkish Statistics Institute (TURKSTAT), with the participation of 14 officials of the CSB of Kuwait.

In accordance with its 2015 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Regional Workshop on 'Spatial Measurements and Statistics, using GIS Technique, for GCC' hosted by National Bureau of Statistics of the United Arab Emirates (NBS) on 10-14 May 2015. The Regional Workshop was conducted by Mr. Birkan Ergüç and Ms. Ayşenur Özcan, Experts at the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), with participation of official statisticians from the GCC region.

The Centre organised a training course on “Strengthening Extension Activities and Quality Seed Production of Cotton” within the framework of the OIC Cotton Training Programme (OIC-CTP), on 7-8 May 2015 at Cotton Development Board in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The course was provided by Ms. Şerife BALCI, expert from Nazilli Cotton Research Institution, Turkey.

Within the framework of the implementation of the resolutions of the 30th Session of the COMCEC, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) organized a workshop on “the New Generation of Free Trade Agreements and Their Impact on Intra-OIC Trade of the Arab and African Countries” in Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco, during 4-6 May 2015.

In accordance with its 2015 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the training course on 'Poverty, Living Conditions and Cross-Cutting Social Issues Statistics' at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on 3-7 May 2015, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The course was conducted by Mrs. Maha Dawas, Expert at the Department of Statistics (DoS) of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan with participation of relevant officials of NBS of UAE.

Ambassador Musa Kulaklıkaya, Director General of SESRIC, hosted a Meeting Reception on 29 April 2015 at the Ankara Palace State Guest House. Ambassadors of OIC Member Countries and representatives of international organisations resident in Ankara along with the heads and directors of several local institutions attended the SESRIC Meeting Reception.

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 "Income and Consumption Statistics" at the National Institute of Statistics (INS) in Abidjan, Republic of Cote d'Ivoire on 28-30 April 2015. The course was conducted by Mr. Joseph Fouoking, Head of Department of Institutional Sector Accounts at the National Institute of Statistics of Cameroon, with the participation of relevant officials of the INS of Cote d'Ivoire.

SESRIC organised a further technical mission on 'Integration of Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS): Module 2 – Sampling Methods' on 27-29 April 2015 in Baku with the participation of relevant officials of State Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Republic of Azerbaijan in collaboration with the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) under the scope of the project initiated by SESRIC on the Integration of TQS into Ongoing National Surveys in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States. The technical mission was conducted by Mr. Yılmaz Erşahin, Expert at Sampling and Analysis Techniques Department of TurkStat.

The Coordination Meeting was organized by GCC-Stat on 21 April 2015 in Muscat, Sultane of Oman in order to improve communication and cooperation among regional and international statistical organizations working in the GCC region. The meeting aims to exchange information on upcoming activities, prevent the dublication of efforts related to statistics and statistical capacity building and share experiences to move forward for the development of statistical work in the GCC region. The topics discussed in the meeting included a thorough review of the regional statistical progress and developments, the strategy and action plan of GCC-Stat, and deliberations about possible cooperation opportunities towards establishing a common and harmonized agenda for developing statistical capacities in the GCC region.

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 'Health Statistics' at the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Analysis (INSAE) in Cotonou, Republic of Benin on 20-22 April 2015. The course was conducted by Dr. Adama Sanogo Pongathié, MD and Director of Information Management, Planning and Evaluation Directorate at the Ministry of Health and Fight Against AIDS of Côte d'Ivoire, with the participation of relevant officials of the INSAE and Ministry of Health of Benin.

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 'Institutional Sectors' at the General Directorate of Statistics and National Accounting (DGSCN) in Lome, Republic of Togo on 20-22 April 2015. The course was conducted by Mr. Mamadou Ngalgou Kane, Chief of the National Accounts Department at the National Agency of Statistics and Demography (ANSD) of Senegal with the participation of relevant officials of the DGSCN.

In accordance with its 2015 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the training course on 'Wholesale and Retail Trade Statistics' at the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan (AZSTAT) on 20-22 April 2015, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The course was conducted by Mr. Abdullah Yuksel, Expert at the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), with participation of relevant officials of AZSTAT.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) of Arab Republic of Egypt 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 14 April 2015 by H.E. Amb. Musa KULAKLIKAYA, Director General of SESRIC, and Mr. Abu Bakr Mahmoud Bakr EL-GENDY, President of CAPMAS of Arab Republic of Egypt.

SESRIC organised a technical mission on 'Integration of Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS): Module 1- Survey Design and Methodology' on 13-15 April 2015 in Baku with the participation of seven officials from Household Budget Survey and LSMS Department of State Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Republic of Azerbaijan under the scope of the project initiated by SESRIC on the Integration of TQS into ongoing national surveys in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States. The technical mission was facilitated by Mr. Mehmet Günal, Expert at Health Statistics Department of Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The Centre, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), organised a training programme on “Natural Disasters & Conflicts” within the framework of the Environment Capacity Building (Environment-CaB) Programme, on 11-12 April 2015 at the venue of the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) in Kabul, Afghanistan. The course was provided by Mr. Ahmed Kamal, Member Disaster Risk Reduction (Member DRR), expert from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

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 'Analysis of Labour Market Statistics' at the National Agency of Statistics and Demographics (ANSD) in Dakar, Republic of Senegal on 7-9 April 2015. The course was conducted by Mr. Mustapha Ziroili, Head of Analysis and Design Unit, Department of Employment Survey of Department of Statistics (HCP) of Kingdom of Morocco, with the participation of 21 officials of the ANSD, Ministry of Economic and Finance, Ministry of Vocational Education and Crafts, and Ministry of Youth and Employment.

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 'Government Finance Statistics' at the Department of Statistics of Malaysia in Putrajaya, Malaysia on 6-8 April 2015. The course was conducted by Ms. Mila Hertinmalyana, Statistician at the BPS-Statistics Indonesia, with the participation of relevant officials of the Department of Statistics of Malaysia.

The Centre, in collaboration with the Office of Tunisian Post, organised a training course on “Postal Financial Services, Electronic Services and Letter Post Service” at the venue of the Jordan Post Company on 5-7 April 2015. Mr. Malek Chouchane, Head of Technical and Technological Service at the Tunisian Post Company conducted that two-day course.