Environmental Management System: 23 resource persons from the public and private sectors of Guinea trained to the requirements of ISO 14001 v 2015

A training workshop on the requirements of ISO 14001 v 2015 was held, from 26 to 28 September 2018, in the meeting room of the Guinean Institute for Standardization and Metrology (IGNM). Initiated and financially supported by the West Africa Quality System Programme (WAQSP), this workshop aims to equip twenty-three (23) resource persons from the public and private sectors of Guinea, on the requirements of the ISO 14001 v 2015 standard.

At the end, it is a question of endowing the country with a considerable number of experts and national skills able to help the local companies to progress towards ISO 14001 v 2015 certification.

In his words of welcome, Mr. Djoume Sangare, Director General of IGNM, pointed out that in an international context marked by the liberalization of trade which has generated a greater competition between the economic actors, it is important to know that the companies’ competitiveness also means the implementation of an effective and efficient Environmental Management System. In her opening speech, Mrs. Sona Konate, Chief of staff of the Ministry of Industry and SMEs of Guinea, reiterated the recognition of the Guinean Government for development partners, particularly the European Union, UNIDO and ECOWAS for their constant and valuable assistance in refining and developing Guinea's Quality Infrastructure. She also pointed out that in Guinea, the lack of professionals in environmental management system is notorious; this constitutes a major obstacle to the implementation of effective national environmental strategies.

After the three days of training, the participants expressed their satisfaction. They unanimously requested the continuation of the training program, particularly on the other standards, in order to provide the region with a sufficient number of experts capable of assisting companies in their management system approaches, and to raise their awareness of the importance of taking into account the aspects covered in their activities.

At the end of the workshop, certificates were delivered to participants.