SESRIC, in its capacity as the Secretariat of the OIC Statistical Commission (OIC-StatCom), jointly convened the 15th Session of the OIC-StatCom with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group on 29-30 September 2026 in a hybrid format in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Session was hosted by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Session brought together 89 participants from the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of 39 OIC Member Countries, as well as representatives from 13 international and regional organisations and other institutions, namely the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS), COMCEC Coordination Office, Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamic Solidarity Fund (ISF), OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-STAT), UN-Water, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD).
The opening of the Session began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, followed by the opening remarks of H.E. Dr. Fahad ALDOSSARI, President of the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The opening session further featured statements by H.E. Mehmet ARABACI, President of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and Chair of the 14th Session of the OIC-StatCom; H.E. Dr. Ahmad K. SENGENDO, Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs, representing the OIC General Secretariat and delivering the message of H.E. Ismail OULD CHEIKH AHMED, Secretary General of the OIC; Dr. Areef SULEMAN, Group Chief Economist of the IsDB; and H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK, Director General of SESRIC.
In his opening remarks, H.E. Dr. ALDOSSARI welcomed the delegations to Jeddah and expressed the great pleasure of GASTAT in hosting the OIC-StatCom in Jeddah for the second time, following the 12th Session held in October 2023. He expressed his appreciation to SESRIC for the excellent technical preparations for the Session, as well as to the IsDB Group for its valuable support, and underlined the importance that GASTAT attaches to contributing to the global statistical agenda and to the statistical agenda of the OIC. He noted that GASTAT hosted three statistical meetings back to back within four days in Jeddah, namely the 51st Board of Trustees Meeting of the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS) on 27 September, the 44th Meeting of the Permanent Technical Committee for Statistics of the League of Arab States (LAS) on 28 September, and the 15th Session of the OIC-StatCom on 29-30 September 2026. Referring to the Road to Riyadh initiative, he invited all participants to take part in the 6th United Nations World Data Forum, to be hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on 9-12 November 2026.
Addressing the Session in his capacity as Chair of the 14th Session, H.E. ARABACI expressed appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and GASTAT for hosting the Session, and to SESRIC for its close cooperation during the chairmanship of Türkiye. He noted that, throughout this period, TurkStat shared its experience with OIC Member Countries under the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme of SESRIC in areas such as social protection statistics, transport statistics and the use of geographic information systems in population and housing censuses, and that Türkiye chaired the Follow-up Meeting of the 14th Session of the OIC-StatCom, held on the margins of the 57th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in New York in March 2026. Handing over the chairmanship from the OIC Asia Group to the OIC Africa Group, he reaffirmed the continued commitment of TurkStat to the work of the Commission, expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and extended his best wishes to the incoming Chair.
Delivering the message of H.E. Ismail OULD CHEIKH AHMED, Secretary General of the OIC, H.E. Dr. SENGENDO noted that the 15th Session was the first gathering of its kind since the assumption of office of the Secretary General and coincided with the 15th anniversary of the OIC-StatCom. He underlined that the rapid transformation of the data ecosystem, including through artificial intelligence and big data, makes the work of the Commission more essential than ever, particularly for OIC countries facing financial and technical resource constraints, especially the Least Developed Countries. He called upon the NSOs of OIC Member Countries to support the implementation of the OIC-StatCom Programme of Action for 2026-2030 and to align its goals with their national statistical priorities, and encouraged further work on Islamic finance indicators, intra-OIC trade statistics and the measurement of the informal economy. He also reaffirmed the commitment of the OIC General Secretariat to working closely with the Commission to strengthen intra-OIC cooperation in statistics.
In his remarks, Dr. SULEMAN, Group Chief Economist of the IsDB, expressed appreciation to GASTAT for hosting the OIC-StatCom for the second time in three years and to SESRIC for its work as the Secretariat. He stressed that reliable statistics are essential for a development institution to understand the needs of Member Countries, direct resources effectively and assess the impact of its interventions, noting that cumulative IsDB Group financing had reached US$222.5 billion, benefiting 134 countries, as of end-June 2026. Referring to the latest IsDB study, which shows an overall SDG score of 62.6 per cent for IsDB Member Countries, he emphasised that national statistical systems should move beyond reporting progress to informing policies and strategies as the OIC Programme of Action 2026-2035 takes shape, and encouraged the Session to agree on a focused set of follow-up activities, each with a clear expected outcome, institutional lead, realistic timetable and monitoring mechanism. He reaffirmed the commitment of the IsDB to deepening its collaboration with SESRIC, NSOs and development partners.
H.E. SELÇUK welcomed the participants and expressed appreciation to GASTAT for hosting the Session for the second time, following the 12th Session held in Jeddah in October 2023, and to the IsDB Group for its continued partnership. She underlined the role of the Commission as the main platform for statistical cooperation among OIC Member Countries since its inception in 2011 and stressed that, as artificial intelligence and new data technologies transform official statistics, trust is becoming a strategic asset of national statistical systems. She reported that, since the 14th Session, SESRIC has conducted 38 statistical activities with the participation of all 57 OIC Member Countries and more than 1,600 participants, bringing the total under the StatCaB Programme since its launch in 2007 to around 600 activities and nearly 16,000 participants, and that 23 Member Countries have so far responded to the questionnaire on the implementation of the OIC-StatCom Programme of Action for 2026-2030. She further noted that the NSOs of OIC Member Countries are implementing notable good practices and innovations, which are not always sufficiently documented and communicated. In this regard, she informed participants that SESRIC has undertaken a dedicated study to systematically document the success stories and new initiatives of national statistical systems, and invited all NSOs to contribute actively to this endeavour.
In line with the established rotation system among the OIC official groups, H.E. SELÇUK announced the Bureau Members of the 15th Session of the OIC-StatCom as follows:
Following the announcement, the chairmanship of the OIC-StatCom was handed over from the OIC Asia Group to the OIC Africa Group. H.E. Dr. Abdou DIOUF, Director General of the National Agency of Statistics and Demography (ANSD) of Senegal and Chair of the 15th Session, delivered his opening address on behalf of the OIC Africa Group, expressing appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and GASTAT for the hosting arrangements, to TurkStat for its outgoing chairmanship and to SESRIC for its commitment as the Secretariat. He stated that Senegal would exercise its chairmanship in a spirit of continuity, consultation and commitment, at a time marked by the implementation of the OIC-StatCom Programme of Action for 2026-2030 and the need to support the monitoring of the new OIC Programme of Action 2026-2035 with sound statistics. He underlined the importance of a harmonised monitoring framework linking the SDGs with OIC strategic priorities, the careful modernisation of population and housing statistics, the implementation of the 2025 SNA with due attention to the informal economy and Islamic finance, and reliable and disaggregated SDG 6 statistics. The Session then adopted its Work Programme.
The working sessions of the 15th Session focused on several areas of priority for the statistical development of OIC Member Countries. SESRIC, as the Secretariat of the Commission, presented its reports on the implementation of the Resolution of the 14th Session of the OIC-StatCom and on the implementation of the OIC-StatCom Programme of Action for 2026-2030. These were followed by deliberations on the following technical agenda items:
The deliberations were enriched by the contributions of the COMCEC Coordination Office, GPSDD, IMF, IsDB, UNECE, UNESCWA, UNFPA, UNSD and UN-Water, and of the participating NSOs, which shared country experiences, good practices and capacity development needs.
On the margins of the Session, SESRIC and GASTAT co-organised a panel discussion entitled “Fostering Partnerships within Statistical Ecosystems” on 30 September 2026. The panel discussion contributed to the Road to Riyadh process leading to the 6th United Nations World Data Forum, to be held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on 9-12 November 2026, and addressed public-private partnerships for statistical data, international cooperation in data sharing, and cross-border partnerships to tackle global challenges.
At the closing session, participants considered and adopted the Resolution of the 15th Session of the OIC-StatCom, setting out the priorities and guidance for the work of the Commission in the coming year. H.E. SELÇUK expressed sincere appreciation to all delegations, speakers and partners for their constructive engagement, and extended special thanks to GASTAT for hosting the Session and to the IsDB Group for its continued partnership in advancing the objectives of the OIC-StatCom.
Documents
Reports
Reports of the OIC-StatCom Secretariat
Opening Session
Presentations
From SDG Interlinkages to OIC Strategic Priorities: Shaping the Monitoring Future for OIC Programme of Action (PoA) 2026-2035
Modernising Population and Housing Statistics through Digital and Interoperable Data Systems
Implementing the System of National Accounts 2025 (2025 SNA): Measuring the Digital Economy, Globalisation, Informality and Islamic Finance
Sustainable Development Goals: Monitoring and Reporting SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) Indicators