First Meeting of the OIC Statistical Working Group (OIC_SWG)
Date: 25-26 March 2008
Venue: Jeddah - Saudi Arabia

SWG-1 LogoThe Islamic Development Bank (IDB) organised the First Meeting of the OIC_SWG on March 25- 26, 2008 at its Headquarters in Jeddah. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the OIC General Secretariat, SESRIC, ICCI, ICDT and IDB. The Inaugural session was addressed by the Vice President of the IDB, Dr. Amadou Boubacar Cisse and the Director General of the SESRIC, Dr. Savas Alpay. Then a presentation entitled “Setting the Scene: The Big Picture” was presented by, Dr. Abdullateef Bello, the Division Chief, Statistics (Data Resource Center, IDB).

The discussions during Working Sessions focused on four themes, namely:

  • Institutional Statistical Capacity and Activities
  • Statistical Needs-Assessment: Where Do We Stand?
  • A Framework for Statistical Coordination: Institutional Niches
  • Statistical Working Group: Functions, Membership and Modus Operandi

In terms of data collection, the OIC_SWG agreed to give priority to sourcing primary data directly from member countries and decided to avoid sending multiple questionnaires from different OIC institutions to member countries for socio-economic data collection. The OIC_SWG also agreed to collect secondary data from international sources. In terms of data processing, the OIC_SWG agreed to standardize definitions of various indicators used in databases and publications of OIC institutions. In terms of data dissemination the OIC_SWG agreed to create a common database as a one-stop platform for accessing reliable and consistent statistics on indicators for OIC member countries. At the end of the meeting, SESRIC offered to host the Second Meeting of the OIC_SWG at its Headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, before the COMCEC Meeting in October 2008.

Proceedings of the 1st Meeting of the OIC Statistical Working Group (SWG-1)