The 3rd Meeting of the OIC Public Employment Services Network (OIC-PESNET)
Date: 02-03 June 2021
Venue: Virtual-SESRIC, Ankara - Türkiye

SESRIC, in collaboration with the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR), organised the 3rd Meeting of the OIC Public Employment Services Network (OIC-PESNET) on 02-03 June 2021 through an online video conferencing platform.

The 3rd Meeting of the OIC-PESNET was held with the main aim of reactivating the work of this important Network, which was established in 2014. The Meeting brought together 71 senior-level representatives from the national public employment services institutions/ agencies of 36 OIC Member States. The participants discussed and adopted two important documents of the Network; namely the “Rules of Procedure” and the “OIC-PESNET Work Plan 2021-2022”.

The Meeting commenced with opening remarks by H.E. Mr. Nebil DABUR, Director General of SESRIC. The Director General highlighted the importance of strengthening the capacities of the public employment authorities in the member countries. He also highlighted the role of the cooperation among these institutions within the framework of the OIC-PESNET and its activities with a view to addressing the current and emerging labour market challenges, reduce unemployment and alleviate poverty.

On his part, H.E. Mr. Bekir AKTÜRK, the Director General of the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR), stated that labour markets in the OIC Member States are facing adverse effects due to the COVID-19 pandemic and changing structure of working life due to new megatrends such as technological developments, Industry 4.0 and globalisation. He mentioned that, in order to adapt to these existing challenges and evolving changes, collective action and systematic experience sharing through the OIC-PESNET are needed among the public employment services institutions in the OIC region.

Following the opening Session, the Meeting proceeded by a presentation on “Current State of the Labour Market in the OIC Member States and OIC Labour Market Strategy 2025” delivered by Dr. Kenan BAGCI, Senior Researcher at SESRIC. During the Meeting, the participants discussed and elaborated on the “Rules of Procedure” and two-year “Work Plan (2021-2022)” of the Network. These two documents aim at ensuring more functional and effective bilateral and multilateral cooperation in public employment services within the framework of the OIC-PESNET.

The OIC-PESNET was launched in 2014 to establish closer cooperation among the Public Employment Services Institutions of the OIC Member States by sharing knowledge, experience, and best practices. SESRIC assumes the role of the Secretariat of the OIC-PESNET and carries out a specific capacity building programme, namely; Public Employment Services Capacity Building Programme (PES-CaB), to support the efforts of the OIC Member States in developing the capacities of the institutional and human resources in the field of public employment services. The Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) carries out the role of Chair of the OIC-PESNET for the upcoming two years.

Meeting Documents:

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