SESRIC participated in a virtual forum titled "Sustainable Destinations: Inspiring Leadership for Responsible Tourism," on July 23, 2024. This event was jointly organized by the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development (ICCD) and Destination Events.

Within the framework of the SESRIC project titled “Strengthening the Capacities of African Tourism Boards through Sustainable Human Resource Management Practices”, which is funded by the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) under the 11th Call for Project Proposals of the COMCEC Project Funding, the Centre organised a Training Course on “Enhancing Tourism Competitiveness through Sustainable HRM Practices in OIC African Member States” on 23-25 July 2024, through an online video conferencing platform.

Within the framework of its Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC, in collaboration with the Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS - Statistics Indonesia), organised a Training Course on “Social Protection Statistics” on 23-25 July 2024.

On the sidelines of the UN-OIC General Meeting on Cooperation held on 22-24 July 2024 in Astana, H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK met with H.E. Khaled KHIARI, UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific at the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. The meeting focused on exploring ways to enhance cooperation between the two institutions in areas of mutual interest.

The 16^th Session of the UN-OIC General Meeting on Cooperation was held on 22-24 July 2024 in Astana and was hosted by the Islamic Organisation for Food Security (IOFS). The meeting brought together high-level representatives from the Secretariats of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations (UN) as well as their specialized agencies and institutions.

SESRIC participated in the First Meeting of the Steering Committee on Youth and Sports of the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers (ICYSM), organized virtually by the Ministry of Sports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chair of the 5th Session of the ICYSM.

SESRIC’s delegation convened with the Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution (TKDK/ARDSI) at their headquarters to discuss potential collaboration, focusing on agriculture and rural development. The ARDSI located in Ankara, Türkiye, is a relevant organization of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, founded in 2007 as a public institution and accredited by the European Commission in 2011, ARDSI has been implementing Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance Rural Development (IPARD) Programme.

H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK came together with Mr. Mohamad Hafiz KASSIM, Chief Financial Officer of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) of Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur to discuss potential collaboration opportunities in the field of social security. The meeting was in line with SESRIC’s initiative to establish the OIC Social Security Institutions Network (OIC-SSINET), which aims to enhance cooperation among social security institutions in the OIC Member Countries.

The World Association of Public Employment Services Asia-Pacific Regional Conference (WAPES APRC) 2024 was hosted by Malaysia’s Social Security Organisation (PERKESO) and the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) in Kuala Lumpur. This year’s theme, “Mitigating Future Skills Gaps: Progressing into a Digital World of Work”, drew over 150 attendees including policymakers, business executives, and research academics.

On the sidelines of the World Association of Public Employment Services Asia-Pacific Regional Conference (WAPES APRC) 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK met with H.E. Ybhg. Dato’ Roslan Tan Sri ABDUL RAHMAN, Secretary General of Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture of Malaysia. The meeting focused on exploring opportunities to enhance cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

A bilateral meeting was held between H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK and H.E. Fadhlina SIDEK, Minister of Education of Malaysia, on the sidelines of the World Association of Public Employment Services Asia-Pacific Regional Conference (WAPES APRC) 2024 in Kuala Lumpur. They discussed enhancing cooperation in education, particularly focusing on the Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme (TVET), aiming to expand opportunities for skills development and educational exchanges.

SESRIC, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) held a virtual meeting on 16 July 2024 to discuss organizing a joint workshop on “Energy Statistics, Balance, and Accounts for Informed Energy and Climate Policies”.

Within the framework of the SESRIC Water Resources Management Capacity Building Program (Water-CaB), and in collaboration with the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), the Centre organised a two-day workshop on “Water Governance and Integrated Water Management for Lake Chad Basin Countries”. The purpose of the workshop was to enhance knowledge, skills and increased collaboration among OIC member countries, particularly in water governance and integrated water management in the Lake Chad Basin region.

Within the framework of its Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised a Workshop on “Business Demography and Entrepreneurship Statistics” on 16-17 July 2024 with the attendance of 54 participants from the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of 20 OIC countries. The Workshop was conducted in collaboration with the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD) through an online video conferencing platform.

SESRIC and the Halal Accreditation Agency of the Republic of Türkiye (HAK) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise their ties and collaboration in knowledge exchange, competencies enhancement, and best practices within the Halal domain and relevant areas. The MoU aims to foster collaborative efforts in developing and implementing initiatives to support halal quality infrastructure in the OIC countries. The signing ceremony took place at SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Türkiye.

SESRIC and the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) held a follow-up meeting, following the signing of their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 14 June 2024 in Istanbul, Türkiye. The meeting aimed to explore potential areas of collaboration in banking, finance, and related areas.

In support of its ongoing efforts to promote care work, SESRIC participated in a Side Event to the Meeting of Ministers of Employment and Labour of the G20 Countries. The event on “Advancing Measurement of Care Work and the Care Economy”, which was hosted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), gathered National Statistical Organisations (NSOs) from G20 member countries to address critical issues surrounding the measurement of care work and the care economy.

SESRIC and the OIC Labour Centre signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to exchange knowledge, best practices, and expert competencies in labour, public employment services, social protection, and other relevant areas. The MoU also aims to promote effective participation in these fields among OIC countries. The signing ceremony took place at the SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Türkiye.

SESRIC, in collaboration with the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), organised a Webinar on “Digitalisation in Food Security and Agriculture”, within the framework of SESRIC’s Agriculture and Food Security Capacity Building Programme (Agri-CaB) and Digital Capacity Building Programme (Digi-CaB).

SESRIC, in collaboration with the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBİA) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, successfully organised a Workshop on “Empowering MSMEs in OIC Member Countries through Green Climate Finance”. The event, held within the framework of SESRIC’s Social Development Capacity Building Programme (SD-CaB) and the Vocational Education and Training Programme for the OIC Member Countries (OIC-VET), brought together 124 experts, executives and academics from TVET National Focal Points and relevant agencies/authorities and national institutions in 30 OIC countries.