The Second Meeting of the COMCEC Poverty Alleviation Working Group was held on December 26th, 2013 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme "Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region". The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 14 OIC Member States including Azerbaijan, Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The Centre was represented thereat by Mr. Atilla Karaman, Senior Researcher, and Mr. Abdulhaki Korbayram, Researcher. Representatives of the COMCEC Coordination Office, IDB, World Bank Ankara Office and Municipality of Altındağ also attended the Meeting.

Within its 2013 annual work plan, SESRIC organised the training course on 'Transport and Communication Statistics' at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Abu Dhabi, UAE on 24-26 December 2013. The course was provided by Mr. Bouazza Bouchkhar, an expert from the Direction de la Statistique, Morocco.

The 2nd Meeting of the OIC/COMCEC Private Sector Tourism Forum was held on 16-17 December 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey under the theme "Effective Marketing Strategies for Promoting Tourism Destinations in the COMCEC Region" with the collaboration of Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey and Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial of the Organization of Islamic Countries (COMCEC). The Forum was attended by public and private sector representatives from 18 OIC Member Countries, OIC General Secretariat and relevant OIC institutions, including Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), COMCEC Coordination Office, and Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT).

The workshop on “Improving Agricultural Value Chains to Strengthen Competitiveness and Marketing” was held on 12 December 2013 in Ankara, Turkey. The workshop was jointly organized by the Turkish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MoFAL), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). The workshop was attended by the relevant departments of the MoFAL, private sector companies, producer organizations, civil society and international organisations. SESRIC was represented by Mr. Mazhar Hussain, Senior Researcher, Research Department and Mr. Efe Kerem Aydın, Programme Coordinator, Training and Technical Cooperation Department thereat.

The Third Session of the Statistical Commission of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-StatCom), held on 10-12 April 2013 in Ankara-Turkey, has welcomed the initiative of the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) in offering the National Statistical Offices (NSO) of OIC Member Countries its Motion Chart Module (SMC) to enable them present their data in a visual way so as to improve the analytical capabilities and effective use of data in evidence based policy making. In accordance with the relevant resolution of the OIC-StatCom, SESRIC and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) jointly organized the Training Programme on “Statistical Database Design and Visualization Tools Development” on 11-12 December 2013 at SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Republic of Turkey.

The 40th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) was held in Conakry, Republic of Guinea on 9-11 December 2013. A wide range of issues of interest to Member States were discussed by the Council leading to the adoption of resolutions on various issues, including the Cause of Palestine and the Middle East; Political Affairs; Ten-Year Programme of Action; Statutory, Organic and General Matters; Legal Affairs; Conditions of Muslim Minorities and Communities in non-OIC Member States; Information Affairs; Administrative and Financial Affairs; Humanitarian Affairs; Economic, Science and Technology, Cultural, Social, and Family Affairs.

The 8th Session of the Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers (ICTM) was hosted by the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of The Gambia and held on 4-6 December 2013 in Banjul, the Gambia.

Organized jointly by the SESRIC, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) and General Secretariat of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Central Banks and Monetary Authorities of the OIC Member Countries was held on 27-28 November 2013 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the hospitality of the SAMA. Delegates from OIC member countries – including governors, deputy governors and central bank experts – and representatives of international organizations such as Islamic Financial Services Board, Financial Stability Board and Basel Committee attended the Meeting. Themed “Impact of Recent International Financial Regulatory Reforms on OIC Countries”, the two-day Meeting was comprised of an Expert Group Workshop (EGW) on the first day and a Governors Meeting on the second. The Centre was represented by Prof. Savas Alpay, Director General; Mr. Nabil Dabour, Director of Economic and Social Research Department and Dr. Umut Unal, Researcher.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Burkina Faso, a training course on “Rural Development Projects” within the framework of the OIC Poverty Alleviation Programme (OIC-PAP) on 26-28 November 2013 in Moroni, Comoros. The course was provided by Nyamba Bertin, Director of Financial Services, and attended by several experts from the Economic Advisory Committee of Comoros.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised, in collaboration with the Ministry of Family and Social Policies of Turkey, a training course on “Regional Poverty Reduction Policies” within the framework of the OIC Capacity Poverty Alleviation Programme (OIC-PAP) on 25-27 November 2013 in Amman, Jordan. The course was provided by Mr. Nevzat Fırat Kunduracı and Mr. Abdulbaki Çakmak, Family and Social Policies Experts, and attended by experts from the Healthy Villages, Ministry of Health, Jordan.

Statistical Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised, in cooperation with Istanbul School of Banking, two consecutive training programmes on ‘Short-term Forecasting at Central Banks’ and ‘Inflation Targeting Practices’ in Istanbul, Turkey, on 25-29 September 2013, within the framework of OIC Central Banks Capacity Building Programme (OIC-CB-CaB). The short term forecasting course was provided by Mahmut Günay and M. Utku Özmen and the inflation targeting practices course was provided by Salih Fendoğlu, Mahmut Günay and M. Utku Özmen with the participation of relevant members of Central Banks of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Uganda and Yemen.

The OIC Economic Outlook 2013, which has been prepared by SESRIC, was launched during the Senior Officials Meeting of the 29th Session of COMCEC, which was convened on 18-21 November 2013 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey. Main highlights of the Report are presented by Prof. Savaş Alpay during the meeting and the presentation attracted significant attention from the representatives of the participating member countries and international institutions.

The 29th Session of the COMCEC was held in Istanbul on 18-21 November 2013 with the participation of the OIC Member States and relevant OIC, regional and international institutions. The Meeting of the Senior Officials of the 29th Session of the COMCEC was held on 18-19 November, where the delegations of the Member States and the OIC institutions considered and deliberated on a number of agenda items related to various issues of enhancing economic and commercial cooperation among the Member States.

SESRIC has received a delegation from the North Sumatra State Institute for Islamic Studies in Medan, Republic of Indonesia on 15 November 2013. The delegation was headed by Prof. Dr. Nur A. Fadhil Lubis, Rector of the North Sumatra State Institute for Islamic Studies and consisted of representatives of State Islamic Institutes of Palembang, Semarang and Mataram accompanied by representatives from the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia.

The Statistical Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) has partnered in the organisation of the First International Exhibition on Muslim Business (IEMB) on “Ethic, Quality and Security at the Service of Muslim Business” was held on 14-16 November in Dakar, Senegal.

Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, was awarded with the title “Doctor Honoris Causa” by the African Institute of Management (IAM) during the International Fair on Muslim Business which was held in Dakar, Senegal, during the period 11-15 November 2013.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised, in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group and the Institute for Scientific Research on Economic Reforms (ISRER) under the Ministry of Economy and Industry of Azerbaijan, a training course on “Multilateral Trading Systems and Accession to the WTO” in Baku, Azerbaijan on 12-14 November 2013, within the framework of the OIC Capacity Building Programme for Multilateral Trading Systems (MTS-CaB).

The Fourth Session of the Islamic Conference of Ministers in Charge of Childhood was held in Baku, capital-city of the Republic of Azerbaijan, under the patronage of H.E. Mr Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the theme “Children and the Challenges of Urbanization in the Islamic World” on 11-12 November 2013. The Conference was attended by Ministers of in Charge of Childhood of the OIC Member Countries, as well as the representatives of relevant regional and international institutions and organisations. SESRIC was represented by Mr. Mehmet Fatih Serenli, Director of Training and Technical Cooperation Department at the Centre.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) organised the Conference on “Capacity Building in Statistics” on 8 November 2013 in Ankara, Turkey under the Phase III of Upgrading the Statistical System of Turkey Programme (USST), a project financed by the European Union (EU) and the Republic of Turkey. The Conference was attended by the senior officials of the Turkish Government, EuroStat, EU Delegation to Turkey, and Project Consortium Partners. The Centre was represented thereat by Mr. Atilla Karaman, Senior Researcher.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), in collaboration with the International Anatolian Health Federation (USAF), organised a training programme on "AIDS Recognition and Prevention" within the framework of the IbnSina Health Capacity Building Programme (IbnSina-HCaB) at the National Office of Occupational Medicine in Nouakchott, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, on 7-8 November 2013. The Course was provided by Dr. Ali Müsevitoğlu, a medical specialist in Turkey.