SESRIC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Family and Social Policies Republic of Turkey, organised a training course on “Organisational Development and Poverty Analysis” within the framework of the OIC Poverty Alleviation Programme (OIC-PAP) in Jakarta, Indonesia on 22-23 March 2016. The course was provided by Mr. Nevzat Kunduracı, Family and Social Policies Expert at the Ministry of Family and Social Policies of the Republic of Turkey and attended by relevant experts from the Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS), Republic of Indonesia.

The Statistical, Economic, Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Cooperation (SESRIC) participated in the 6^th Meeting of the COMCEC Financial Cooperation Working Group organised by the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) in Ankara, Turkey on 17-18 March 2016.

In accordance with its 2016 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC has organised the Training Course on “Balance of Payments and External Statistics” at the Central Informatics Organization, Information and eGovernment Authority (IGA) of Kingdom of Bahrain on 15-17 March 2016.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) has organised a theoretical and practical training course on “Greenhouse Farming” within the framework of the OIC Agriculture Capacity Building Programme (OIC-AgriCaB) for 6 agriculture experts from Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) at the Alata Horticultural Research Institute in Adana, Turkey, on 14-18 March 2016. The course was conducted by the experts of Alata Horticultural Research Institute. As part of the training course Mersin and Adana were visited.

SESRIC, in its capacity as the Secretariat of the OIC Statistical Commission (OIC-StatCom), organised the annual Meeting with the Delegates of National Statistical Offices of OIC Member Countries on 10 March 2016 between 08:15 and 09:30 in Conference Room B of the UN Conference Building as a side event meeting of the 47^th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in New York, USA.

The Forty-Seventh Session of the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC) took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA on 8-11 March 2016. The Session was attended by representatives of national and international agencies. H.E. Amb. Musa KULAKLIKAYA, Director General, and Ms. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK, Director of Statistics and Information Department,l represented SESRIC thereat.

The 5^th Extraordinary Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif under the theme of “United for Just Solution” was held in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia on 6-7 March 2016. The two-day summit with lead with preparatory convention of senior officials on 6 March and followed by a meeting of foreign ministers, with the outcomes of the first day of debates forwarded to the leaders of the OIC Member States on 7 March 2016. The issue of Palestine was discussed among the 605 delegates from 57 countries:

H.E. Ambassador Musa Kulaklıkaya, Director General of SESRIC attended the press conference on „OIC Tourism Capital for 2016“ which was held on 4 March 2016 in the Turkish city of Konya. The press conference aimed to introduce the action plan for the new OIC Tourism Capital of 2016.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised an Expert Group Meeting on "Radicalism and Violent Extremism" at SESRIC Headquarter in Ankara on 02 March 2016, in collaboration with Centre for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM) and Foundation for Political and Social Research (SETA).

The 11^th Meeting of the OIC Steering Committee on Health (SCH) was hosted by the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 02-03 March 2016 at OIC Headquarters in Jeddah. The Steering Committee was attended by representatives of member countries and the relevant OIC and UN institutions, and discussed, inter alia, the status of implementation of the decisions and resolutions adopted by the Fifth Islamic Conference of Health Ministers held in Turkey on 17-19 November 2015, as well as the implementation of the OIC Strategic Health Programme of Action 2014-2023 (SHPA). The SCH Meeting was preceded by the 4th Lead Country Coordinators Meeting on 29 February-1 March 2016.

The Fourth Meeting of the Lead Country Coordinators (LCCs) was hosted by the Ministry of Health of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 29 February-1 March 2016 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Lead Country Coordinators responsible for the six thematic areas identified in the OIC Strategic Health Programme of Action 2014-2023 (OIC-SHPA) namely, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Oman, Sudan and Turkey, as well as relevant OIC organs and institutions including COMSTECH, SESRIC, ISESCO and IDB.

SESRIC organised a training course on “Emergency and Disaster Medical Services” for 15 health experts from Indonesia at the International Urla Emergency Disaster Training and Simulation Centre in İzmir, Turkey, on 28 February-10 March 2016, in cooperation with Aksi Cepat Tanggap Foundation of Indonesia, the Ministry of Health of Turkey and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA). The course was conducted by the experts of Ministry of Health of Turkey.

The Participation Banks Association of Turkey organized the Meeting on Action #78 within the Framework of Istanbul International Finance Centre Programme on 26 February 2016 at its headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Atilla Karaman from the Statistics and Information Department represented the SESRIC at the Meeting.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Libyan Authority for Research, Science and Technology (LARST) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide a general framework to develop partnership between SESRIC and LARST so as to conduct analytical studies and researches in the areas of common interest. The MoU was signed on 26 February 2016 by H.E. Amb. Musa Kulaklıkaya, Director General of SESRIC, and Assoc. Prof. Faisal A. Mohamed General Manager of LARST in Ankara.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised a two-day workshop on “Syrian Refugees: Prospects and Challenges” in Ankara on 25-26 February 2016.

In accordance with its 2015 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the training course on ‘Professional Skills for Official Statisticians: Time Management’ at Agency on Statistics under President of the Republic of Tajikistan (AoS) on 22-23 February 2016, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The course was conducted by Mr. Nijat Akhmedov, Expert at DemirBank of Azerbaijan with participation of relevant officials of AoS.

SESRIC organised a scientific training course on ‘‘Dimensional Metrology’’ in Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey on 22-26 February 2016, in collaboration with the Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries (SMIIC) and TÜBİTAK National Metrology Institute (TÜBİTAK UME).

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), a subsidiary organ of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), the Libyan Programme for Reintegration and Development and the Libyan Organization of Policies and Strategies have organized a workshop on “Reintegration and Development in Libya: The Role of Think Tanks” on 22-23 February 2016 at SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Turkey.

Carried out under the support of COMCEC PCM Programme and coordinated by SESRIC, the project titled “Improving Statistical Capacities of OIC Member Countries in Poverty Statistics” aims at building statistical capacity in poverty statistics and overall contributing to the National Statistical Systems of the member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) through capacity building programs including short-term trainings.

Ambassador Musa Kulaklıkaya, Director General of the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), visited Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) in their headquarters in Rabat, Morocco.