The three-day General Coordination Meeting, spanning 11-13 May 2016 and involving representatives from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations (UN) bodies, was held at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The biannual regular meeting evaluates the progress of joint cooperation activities running from May 2014 to May 2016. HE Ambassador Musa KULAKLIKAYA, Director General; Dr. Kenan Bağcı, Researcher; Mr. Onur Çağlar, Technical Cooperation Specialist; and Dr. Atilla Karaman, Researcher represented the SESRIC at the three-day Meeting.

The Panel Session on “The Role of National and International OSH Organisations” was held in Istanbul on 10 May 2016, on the sideline of the Eighth International Conference on Occupational Safety and Health which was held on 08-11 May 2016. Chaired by Ambassador Musa Kulaklikaya, Director General of SESRIC, the session hosted speakers from SESRIC, World Health Organisation (WHO), Arab Labour Organisation (ALO), United Nations Population Fund and German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV). Mr. Mansur Boydaş, Training Expert at the Training and Technical Cooperation Department of SESRIC gave a presentation on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Occupational Safety and Health Network OIC OSHNET that is one of the active networks around the world on the subject area.

The Third Meeting of the OIC Occupational Safety and Health Network (OIC-OSHNET) was organised by SESRIC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Turkey (MoLSS), in Istanbul, Turkey, on 10 May 2016, on the sideline of the Eighth International Conference on Occupational Safety and Health which was held on 8-11 May 2016.

The Statistical, Economic, Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Cooperation (SESRIC) participated in the 4th Meeting of the Interagency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics for the Arab Countries organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA) on 9-10 May 2016 in Dead Sea, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

SESRIC organised a workshop on “Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in OIC Member Countries: Needs and Capacity Assessment” in collaboration with the UNDP Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector in Development and the Association of Education for the Future (GED) in Ankara, Turkey on 09-11 May 2016.

The Eighth International Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Conference was organised by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of Turkey on the theme of ‘‘Sustainable Occupational Safety and Health” in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey on 8-11 May 2016.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) hosted a Roundtable Meeting on “Strengthening Intra-OIC Cooperation for Development: The Role of SESRIC” with the participation of the Ambassadors of the OIC Member Countries in Ankara on 06 May 2016.

SESRIC organised a study visit on ’Global Adult Tobacco Survey and Turkish Health Survey’ on 5 May 2016 in Ankara, Republic of Turkey with the participation of two officials of Agency on Statistics under President of the Republic of Tajikistan (TAJSTAT) to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) under the scope of the project on the ‘Integration of TQS into Ongoing National Surveys in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States’ in collaboration with the Central for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CDC Foundation.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and National Institute of Statistics (INS) of the Republic of Niger 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 4 May 2016 by H.E. Amb. Musa KULAKLIKAYA, Director General of SESRIC, during the Orientation Workshop on ‘Tobacco Questions for Surveys’ at SESRIC Headquarters, Ankara, Republic of Turkey and signed on 2 May 2016 by Mr. Idrissa Alichina KOURGUENI, Director General of INS of the Republic of Niger, at INS Headquarters, Niamey.

The 3^rd International Congress of Technology Addiction, hosted by the Turkish Green Crescent Society in Istanbul, Turkey on 3-4 May 2016, brought together specialised experts on technology addiction, as well as representatives of governments, regional and international institutions and NGOs. The congress included activities aimed at building a scientific platform for discussions, solutions, and practical suggestions about the growing effects of excessive and inappropriate use of technology.

The 2^nd International Halal Tourism Conference was organised on 3-5 May 2016 in Dedeman Convention Centre, Konya, Turkey.

The Orientation Workshop on ‘Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS)’ was organised and hosted by SESRIC in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CDC Foundation on 3-4 May 2016 at SESRIC Headquarters, Ankara, Republic of Turkey. The said Workshop had the objective to provide additional information and technical support to the OIC Member Countries in integrating TQS into their on-going surveys.

In accordance with its 2016 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Business Registers’ at Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) of Arab Republic of Egypt on 26-28 April 2016.

SESRIC has launched the 2016 edition of its report titled “Agriculture and Food Security in OIC Member Countries: Opportunities for Cooperation” during the 7^th OIC Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development, which was held in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, from 26-28 April 2016. The report highlights the recent state as well as the constraints and challenges of agricultural development and food security in OIC countries. It examines major agricultural development issues in OIC countries such as agricultural production and productivity, trade in agriculture commodities, agricultural population and land use in agriculture, water resources and their use in agriculture, production and trade of food, food aid, prevalence of undernourishment, and impacts of food price volatility. The report also sheds light on the importance of promoting intra-OIC investment in the agriculture sector and concludes with a set of broad policy recommendations and some project proposals for enhancing OIC cooperation in this important area.

The Second Turkish Arab Congress on Higher Education (TECHE 16) was held in Istanbul on 26-30 April 2016 in partnership with Istanbul Medeniyet University, the Association of Arab Universities and the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC).

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), organised a training course on “Occupational Hygiene: Fundamentals of Industrial Hygiene” in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Turkey on 26-28 April 2016. The training course was provided by Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Turkey with the attendance of participants from the Occupational Health Division operating under the Ministry of Health, Brunei Darussalam.

The 7^th Session of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development and the Inaugural General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) was held on 26–28 April 2016 in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan. The Conference was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

In accordance with its 2016 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Social Accounting Matrixes’ at Central Informatics Organization, Information and eGovernment Authority (IGA) of Bahrain on 25-27 April 2016.

The Workshop on Risk Management in Statistical Organisations was organised by the Modernisation Committee on Organisational Framework and Evaluation at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on 25-26 April 2016. The Workshop was attended by official statisticians responsible for risk management in their respective organisations from 24 countries of which 3 of them were also OIC member countries, including Albania, Kyrgyz Republic, and Turkey. The representatives of Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Statistical Division of UNECE, Eurostat, academia, and SESRIC participated in the Workshop, as well. Dr. Atilla Karaman from the Statistics and Information Department represented SESRIC at the Workshop.

SESRIC organised a study visit on ’Global Adult Tobacco Survey and Turkish Health Survey’ on 25-26 April 2016 in Turkey with the participation of three officials of BPS-Statistics Indonesia to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) under the scope of the project on the “Integration of TQS into Ongoing National Surveys in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States” in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).