As part of the “Journey to OIC Countries” series, SESRIC welcomed H.E. Abdulaye FOFANA, Ambassador of the Republic of Guinea to the Republic of Türkiye, together with a delegation from the Embassy and a group of Guinean students pursuing their education in Türkiye, at its Headquarters on 30 October 2026.

The programme commenced with welcoming remarks from H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK, who expressed her pleasure in hosting Amb. Abdulaye FOFANA, the embassy delegation, and Guinean students pursuing their education in Türkiye. In her remarks, H.E. SELÇUK underscored that Guinea is one of the 25 founding members of the OIC and currently serves on the SESRIC Board of Directors, representing the OIC Africa Group. Since 2007, Guinean national institutions have benefited from 135 SESRIC capacity-building and training activities, with 385 Guinean participants. H.E. SELÇUK highlighted the Centre’s cooperation with the National Institute of Statistics of Guinea. This includes a Memorandum of Agreement signed in January 2025 to integrate the Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS) into Guinea’s Sixth Demographic and Health Survey, as well as Guinea’s role as Vice-Chair of the 14th Session of the OIC Statistical Commission (OIC-StatCom).  On this occasion, she conveyed her sincere appreciation to Amb. Abdulaye FOFANA, his team, and the students for taking the time to visit the Centre and encouraged the students to apply to the SET-CaB Programme.

H.E. FOFANA expressed his sincere appreciation to H.E. SELÇUK and SESRIC for hosting the delegation and students, and for the Centre’s continued support to Guinean national institutions through its training and capacity-building activities. He reaffirmed Guinea’s strong commitment to the OIC as one of its founding members and emphasised the importance of solidarity and cooperation among OIC countries in addressing common development challenges. He also highlighted the vital role of young people in Guinea’s development and encouraged the Guinean students to make the most of the opportunities offered by SESRIC. He welcomed further cooperation with SESRIC in priority areas. His remarks were accompanied by a video presentation showcasing Guinea’s history and culture.

During the visit, participants were also introduced to the OIC and to SESRIC’s mandate and activities in statistics, research, and technical cooperation. The SESRIC presentation covered a section on SESRIC’s Emerging Talents Capacity-Building Programme (SET-CaB), which aims to empower higher education students and fresh graduates from OIC countries by enhancing their skills and providing them with exposure to an international organisational environment. Guinean students had the opportunity to engage in discussions on gaining experience in an international setting.

The visit concluded with an exchange of views between H.E. SELÇUK, H.E. FOFANA, SESRIC staff and the Guinean students, reaffirming the shared commitment to further deepen cooperation between SESRIC and Guinea in support of sustainable development, institutional capacity building and youth empowerment.

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