SESRIC, in its capacity as the OIC Technical Coordinator of the OIC Occupational Safety and Health Network (OIC-OSHNET), in collaboration with the Directorate General of Occupational Safety and Health (DGOSH) of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Turkey, in its capacity as the Secretariat of the Network, organised the Annual Meeting of the National Focal Points (NFPs) of the OIC Occupational Safety and Health Network (OIC-OSHNET) on 30 November 2021 through a video conferencing platform.

The Meeting brought together 53 senior-level representatives of National OSH Authorities in 33 OIC member countries to discuss the progress achieved in the Work Plan for the year 2021, which was adopted during the 4th Meeting of the Network in October 2020, and to evaluate the implemented activities and their outcomes towards the realisation of the objectives and targets of the Work Plan. The Meeting also reviewed the planned activities under the Work Plan for the upcoming year 2022 and considered ways and means of realising them within the given timeframe.

The Meeting commenced with the opening remarks of H.E. Mr. Nebil DABUR, Director General of SESRIC, who began by recalling the two main documents adopted at the 4th Meeting of the OIC-OSHNET, namely; the Rules of Procedure and the Work Plan 2021-2022, that aim at ensuring the effective functioning of the Network. Furthermore, H.E. Mr. DABUR underscored the significant success of realising all planned activities for 2021 by the end of the year under four different thematic areas and appreciated the efforts of the provider OSH national institutions and the NFPs who contributed to these activities. Moreover, H.E. Mr. DABUR emphasised on the importance of collective efforts and joint actions of professional networks, such as the OIC-OSHNET, to utilise the available resources and experiences among the OIC member countries, especially during these difficult times of global crisis.

In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Cafer UZUNKAYA, Director General of Occupational Safety and Health (DGOSH) of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services of the Republic of Turkey, recalled the OIC-OSHNET Work Plan 2021-2022 and pointed out the five activities that were carried out by the Secretariat this year within the framework of the Work Plan. In addition, H.E. Mr. UZUNKAYA underlined the importance of each conducted activity and the relevance and value of each chosen topic in assisting the OIC member countries in overcoming their challenges in the field of OSH. Moreover, H.E. Mr. UZUNKAYA reaffirmed the Secretariat’s commitment in holding further capacity building activities and sharing their expertise with their counterparts in the OIC member countries in the upcoming year.

The OIC-OSHNET was launched in 2011 in order to establish closer cooperation among the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Institutions of the OIC member countries through sharing knowledge, experience and best practices. SESRIC assumes the role of the OIC Technical Coordinator of the OIC-OSHNET and carries out a specific capacity building programme on OSH, namely, Occupational Safety and Health Capacity Building Programme (OSH-CaB), to support the efforts of the OIC member countries in improving workplace safety and health. For more details about the Network and its activities, please visit: https://oshnet.sesric.org/index.php

All documents and presentations of the Meeting are available at this link.

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