13 Oct, 2021
The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group in collaboration with the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) co-organized the 10th Session of the Statistical Commission of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-StatCom) held virtually on 5-7 October 2021. The event was attended by representatives from National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of OIC countries as well as multilateral organizations.
The OIC-StatCom provided an opportunity for discussing activities and initiatives implemented by the Commission for a given year as well as information exchange by national and international organizations regarding global standards and experiences on various aspects of statistics.
Strategizing vis-à-vis developments brought about by COVID-19 as well as the eventual transitions towards its end was a common theme in most of the discussions. In his welcoming address, Dr. Areef Suleman, Director of Economic Research and Statistics, IsDB Institute (IsDBI), stressed that the pandemic reinforced the need for timely data and statistics. He further highlighted that improvements in vaccination initiatives have started to provide opportunities for gradual return to normalcy.
Dr. Suleman added that IsDBI is continuing its efforts to enhance statistical compilation and analysis, development of key indicators, and setting up responsive and user-friendly tools that supply structured data and visualizations in collaboration with its international partners.
SESRIC Director General, Mr. Nebil Dabur, stressed the increasing need for producing quality data and statistical analysis from traditional and non-traditional sources to track socioeconomic recovery while acknowledging the fact that several NSOs of OIC countries have been badly affected by the pandemic.
On behalf of the OIC Secretary General, Mr. Jakhongir Khasanov urged the participants to continue providing significant contribution to the Committee in “a time of significant stress and challenges”.
Key resolutions adopted at the end of the session were to encourage active collaboration in implementing key actions specified under the Programme of Action for 2021-2025 of the Strategic Vision of the OIC-StatCom for 2030; highlight the importance of collecting and disseminating health data particularly those related to SDG 3; emphasize the need for editing, error detection, and sharing of best practices related to population and housing census; and recognize disruptions in capacity development activities brought by COVID-19.
