SESRIC, in its capacity as the Secretariat of the OIC Statistical Commission (OIC-StatCom), organised the Follow-up Meeting of the 14^th Session of the OIC-StatCom on 4 March 2026 as a side event of the 57^th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) in New York. 31 delegates from 15 OIC countries, as well as the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS), attended the meeting.

The meeting commenced with opening remarks delivered by H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK, who welcomed the participants and underlined the importance of the Follow-up Meeting as a key platform for reviewing progress in the implementation of the resolutions and recommendations adopted by the OIC Statistical Commission, strengthening knowledge-sharing and intra-OIC statistical cooperation, and advancing preparations for the upcoming 15^th Session of the Commission. In this connection, she also highlighted the ongoing efforts of the Secretariat to document and showcase the success stories of the National Statistical Offices of OIC countries, as well as the preparations already initiated for the 15^th Session to be held in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She further expressed her appreciation to the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) for its continued support to the work of the Commission and to TurkStat for its valued leadership in chairing both the 14th Session and this Follow-up Meeting.

H.E. Dr. Areef SULEMAN, Group Chief Economist of IsDB, expressed his appreciation to SESRIC for convening the meeting on the margins of the 57^th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission and emphasised the importance of sustained cooperation in the field of official statistics to support evidence-based policymaking and strengthen statistical capacity across OIC countries. In this context, he also reaffirmed IsDB’s continued commitment to contributing to the work of the OIC Statistical Commission in its capacity as an ex officio member.

H.E. Dr. Erhan CETINKAYA, President of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and Chair of the 14^th Session of the OIC-StatCom, also thanked SESRIC for organising the meeting and underscored the importance of maintaining the momentum generated by the Commission through continued collaboration and follow-up, while reaffirming support for the preparations towards a successful 15th Session of the OIC-StatCom.

As the Secretariat of the OIC-StatCom, SESRIC provided participants with an update on the implementation of resolutions adopted during the 14^th Session of the OIC-StatCom, held in a hybrid format at SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Republic of Türkiye, in October 2025. Additionally, SESRIC briefed participants on the preparations for the upcoming 15^th Session.

The participants discussed and agreed on the following issues:

• The agenda items of the upcoming 15^th Session of the OIC-StatCom are as follows:
  • 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: Measuring the Digital Economy, Globalisation, Informality and Islamic Finance
  • Sustainable Development Goals: Monitoring and Reporting SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) Indicators
• The date and the venue of the upcoming 15^th Session of the OIC-StatCom as follows: Physical meeting in September 2026 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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