Third Session of OIC Statistical Commission (OIC-StatCom)
Date : 10-12 April 2013 Venue : Ankara Türkiye

The Third Session of the Statistical Commission of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-StatCom) was co-organised by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on 10-12 April 2013 in Ankara, Turkey.

The delegates of the National Statistical Offices (NSOs) from 26 OIC Member Countries including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Egypt, Guinea, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Niger, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, and Yemen attended the Third Session of OIC-StatCom. The representatives of 9 international / supranational organisations including the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), OIC General Secretariat, Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS), United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), International Labour Organization (ILO), Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT), Economic and Social Council for Western Asia (UNESCWA), and Prognoz Corporation also took part in the Commission.

The Centre was represented thereat by Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director General; Mr. Atilla Karaman, Acting Director of Statistics and Information Department; Ms. Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, Senior Researcher; Ms. Münevver Nilgün Egemen, Senior Researcher, and Mr. Syed Tahir Mahmud, Researcher.

After the recitation of some verses from the Holy Quran, the Third Session of OIC-StatCom commenced on 10 April 2013 with the welcome addresses of Mr. Mohanna al Mohanna (Chair of the OIC-StatCom and Director General of the Central Department of Statistics and Information of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Mr. Mehmet Metin Eker (Director General of the COMCEC Coordination Office), and Mr. Jakhongir Khasanov (Professional Officer at the Economic Affairs Department of the OIC General Secretariat). Dr. Abdullateef Bello (Director of the Economic Research and Policy Department at the IDB) and Prof. Savaş Alpay (Director General of SESRIC) delivered the welcome speeches as co-organizers of OIC-StatCom. The opening session continued with the opening remarks of Mr. Elijah Muwanga-Zake (Chairman of the Board of UBOS, Uganda), Mr. Mohamed Ali Al Marzouqi (Director of Administration, QSA, Qatar), and Mr. Enver Taştı on behalf of Mr. Birol Aydemir (President of TurkStat, Turkey) representing African, Arab and Asian region, respectively.

During the session “OIC–StatCom Technical Committee of Experts (TCE): Implemented Activities and the Way Forward”, the participants listened to the presentations of Ms. Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk (Senior Researcher, Statistics and Information Department, SESRIC), Dr. Suryamin (Chief Statistician, BPS-Statistics Indonesia), Ms. Münevver Nilgün Egemen (Senior Researcher, Statistics and Information Department, SESRIC), and Mr. Atilla Karaman (Acting Director, Statistics and Information Department, SESRIC) regarding the progress reports of OIC-StatCom TCEs, which have been established based on the resolutions of the Second Session of OIC-StatCom.

The first day of the Third Session of OIC-StatCom ended with the session on “Towards a More Comprehensive System of Labour Statistics”. During the session, the representatives of ILO, Mr. Mustafa Hakkı Özel (Head of the Standards and Surveys Unit) and Ms. Elisa Benes (Statistician at the Household Surveys Unit) informed the participants about the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) that will be held on 2-11 October 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Amira Ahmed Gamaleldin Abdelhamid (Undersecretary for Statistical Training Centre, CAPMAS, Egypt), Dr. Haji Abdul Rahman bin Hasan (Chief Statistician, Department of Statistics Malaysia), and Ms. Yosun Katı (Expert, TurkStat)  also made presentations in this session. While the country case presentation of Egypt emphasised the impact of global recession of 2009 on global and Egyptian economies, and reflection of this impact on the labour statistics, the presentations of Malaysia and Turkey gave an overview on the structure of labour statistics in their respective countries. After the presentations, delegates discussed the issues pertaining to the 19th ICLS and possible cooperation mechanisms in labour statistics.

The second day of the Third Session of OIC-StatCom, 11 April 2013, started with the session on “Open Data Initiative: Challenges and Opportunities for NSOs of OIC Member Countries”. Dr. Vladimir Eskin (Managing Director of International Operations at Prognoz Corporation) briefed the delegates about the Open Data for Africa Platform, an initiative launched by the African Development Bank to significantly improve data management and dissemination in Africa. The presentations of Dr. Suryamin (Chief Statistician, BPS-Statistics Indonesia), Mr. Mahmoud M. A. Abdalrahman, (Director General of Area Statistics Directorate, Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics), Mr. Mamadou Falou Mbengue (Deputy Director General, ANSD, Senegal), and Mr. Furkan Metin (Assistant Expert, TurkStat), focused on the open data initiatives launched, challenges faced and ways to overcome them in their respective countries. After the presentations, the participants discussed about how to deploy open data platforms, the processes to follow, and the resource requirements in terms of manpower and infrastructure for such initiatives.

In the last thematic session on “From MDGs to SDGs: Involvement of National Statistical Offices in Measuring Progress in the Post-2015 Period”, Dr. Keiko Osaki-Tomita (Chief, Demographic and Social Statistics Branch, UNSD), and Ms. Claudia Junker (Head of Unit A6 Statistical Cooperation at Eurostat) took the floor first. UNSD gave a brief summary on the MDG reporting and monitoring processes, Rio+20 outcomes, and the role that the NSOs can play in SDGs while the presentation of the Eurostat reflected the perspective of European Union on the post-2015 development goals and the role of Eurostat in developing new indicators for these goals. Mr. Modou Sanda (Engineer specialized in Statistics and Economics, Cameroon), Mr. Adamou Bouzou (Adviser to the Director-General of INS, Niger), Mr. Yousuv Mohammed Thani AL Riyami (Head of Producer Price Section, Oman), and Ms. Naciye Başak Betin (Expert, TurkStat) also made presentations that mainly highlighted the national statistical activities concerning the monitoring and reporting of MDGs, experiences gained from tracking MDGs, and their involvement in the processes concerning SDGs.

Before the Closing Session, Mr. Hakan Eryetli, Director of IT and Publications at SESRIC, made a presentation on "Technical Cooperation Proposal of SESRIC on the Development of Visualization Tools" in which he informed the participants about the various modalities of cooperation between SESRIC and the NSOs concerning the development of data visualization tools. At the end of the presentation, Mr. Eryetli announced that SESRIC is planning to organise a workshop on how to implement these tools within the IT infrastructure of NSOs in the fourth quarter of 2013. After the presentation, Dr. Abdullateef Bello, Director of Economic Research and Policy Department of the Islamic Development Bank, briefly introduced the DfID Fund Phase-II, an amount of £1 million, for the OIC Countries of the MENA Region.

In the Closing Session, the delegates discussed and adopted the Resolutions of the Third Session of OIC-StatCom.

Documents

Welcome Messages

  • Welcome Address of Mr. Mohanna Al Mohanna, Chair of OIC-StatCom and Director General of CDSI, Saudi Arabia (Arabic)
  • Welcome Address of Mr. Mehmet Metin Eker, Director General of COMCEC (English)
  • Message of Secretary General of OIC (English)
  • Welcome Speech of Dr. Abdullateef Bello, Director of Economic Research and Policy Department at IDB (English)
  • Welcome Speech of Prof. Savas Alpay, Director General, SESRIC (English)
  • Opening Remarks by Mr. Elijah Muwanga-Zake, Chairman of the Board of UBOS, Uganda (English)
  • Opening Remarks by Mr. Mohamed Ali Al Marzouqi, Director of Administration, QSA, Qatar (English)
  • Opening Remarks by Mr. Birol Aydemir, President of TurkStat, Turkey (English)

Presentations

OIC–StatCom Technical Committee of Experts: Implemented Activities and the Way Forward

  • TCE 1 on Islamic Banking and Finance Statistics, SESRIC (English)
  • TCE 2 on Executive Work Plan for the Short, Medium and Long Term Implementation of the OIC-StatCom Strategic Vision, Indonesia (English)
  • TCE 3 on Accreditation Program for Statistical Professionals in OIC Member States, SESRIC (English)
  • TCE 4 on Gender Related Issues, SESRIC (English) and UAE (English)
  • TCE 5 on Comprehensive Profile on the Population and Housing Census Experiences and Practices of OIC Member Countries (English)

Towards a More Comprehensive System of Labour Statistics

  • 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, ILO (English)
  • Activities of ILO in Preparation for the 19th ICLS, ILO (English)
  • Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on the Egyptian Labor Market, Egypt (English)
  • Labour Statistics, Malaysia (English)
  • Labour Statistics in Turkey, Turkey (English)

Open Data Initiative: Challenges and Opportunities for NSOs of OIC Member Countries

  • Open Data for Africa Platform, PROGNOZ (English)
  • Open Data in BPS, Indonesia (English)
  • Open Data, Palestine (Arabic)
  • Portail de Données Statistiques du Senegal,Senegal (French)
  • Open Data Initiative: Challenges and Opportunities for NSOs of OIC Member Countries, Turkey (English)

From MDGs to SDGs: Involvement of National Statistical Offices in Measuring Progress in the Post-2015 Period

  • From MDGs to SDGs and Post-2015 Development Agenda A Call for Statistical Community, UNSD (English)
  • Post 2015 Development Goals - EU perspective, EUROSTAT (English)
  • Passage des OMDs aux ODDs: Implication des Offices Nationaux de la Statistique dans la Mesure des Progrès dans la Période Post-2015: Le Cas du Cameroun, Cameroon (French)
  • Dispositif de Collecte de données sur les OMD: Cas du Niger, Niger (French)
  • Millennium Development Goals, Oman (Arabic)
  • From MDGs to SDGs: Involvement of National Statistical Offices in Measuring Progress in the Post-2015 Period and SDGs, Turkey (English)

Documents of Technical Committee of Experts (TCE)

  • Draft Interim Report of the TCE1 on Islamic Banking and Finance Statistics (English) (Arabic) (French)
  • Draft Progress Report of TCE2: Executive Work Plan for the Short, Medium and Long Term Implementation of the OIC-StatCom Strategic Vision (English) (Arabic) (French)
  • Draft Progress Report of TCE3: Procedural Details of the Accreditation Program for Statistical Professionals in OIC Member States (English) (Arabic) (French)
  • Recommendations of the TCE4 Meeting on Gender Related Issues (English) (Arabic) (French)
  • Draft Report of TCE5: Comprehensive Profile on the Population and Housing Census Experiences and Practices of OIC Member Countries (English) (Arabic) (French)

Photos