SESRIC participated in the Thematic Debate of the 18^th Regular Session of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPRHC) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as a panellist on 23 November 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

In the morning session of the Thematic Debate, Dr. Atilla KARAMAN, Director of Statistics Department, presented the findings from the recent SESRIC report titled “Towards the Achievement of Prioritised Sustainable Development Goals 2021” that has been submitted to the 37^th Session of the COMCEC. In his presentation, Dr. Karaman underlined that the OIC countries group is estimated not to be able to meet by the year 2030 any of the eight prioritised (SDGs 1-5, 8-9, and 13) and the additional six SDGs covered in the Report (SDGs 6-7, 10-12, and 14) unless the current pace of progress accelerates. Dr. Karaman also mentioned that the achievement of SDGs may become more challenging with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which will pose more challenges for the OIC countries towards the achievement of the SDGs.

The main objectives of the Thematic Debate were to discuss the role, importance and linkages of human rights in promoting sustainable development and identify major challenges confronting the achievement of SDGs in OIC Member States at different levels.

For more information, please visit: https://oic-iphrc.org/home/activity/513