Representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Sierra Leone Standards Bureau (SLSB), University of Sierra Leone (USL) as well as private sector enterprises participated in a Lead Auditor Training Course between 24th September and 1st October 2021. Separated into two sessions, the five-day workshop was organised by UNIDO, through is project for Increasing Sierra Leone’s competitiveness through enhanced productivity and trade compliance in selected value chains, funded by the EU. UNIDO aims to create capacity among the participants on principles and practices of effective Quality Management System (QMS) audits in line with ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 19011 "Guidelines for auditing management systems". Through interactive sessions, group assignments and role-plays, they were also trained to acquire the skills to plan, conduct, report and follow up a QMS audit that establishes conformity and enhances overall organizational performance. The course is the first of its kind conducted in Sierra Leone according to the requirements of the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA) and successful participants will be IRCA-certified.

Since there are currently no IRCA-certified Auditors or Lead Auditor in Sierra Leone, the Course organised by UNIDO will bring long-term benefits for industrial competitiveness and trade compliance of the country. In parallel, UNIDO is supporting enterprises to implement ISO 9001 and SLSB to establish the first ever Certification Body for Management System (MSCB) that will be able to certify these enterprises according to international standards. Subsequently, some of these qualified auditors will work with SLSB MSCB, some will work as consultants, trainers and implementer in field of ISO9001. We hope the journey of quality and quality culture in the country would sustainably continue even after the project completion through these qualified experts’ availability in the country.

"We needed this course. For us to compete internationally, we need to meet important qualifications such as the ISO 9001 standard. We thank the European Union, UNIDO, and the WACOMP to provide such a great opportunity in Sierra Leone.", said Mr Jeremiah Harding, Quality Assurance Officer, University of Sierra Leone

The training was attended by Mr. Philippe Mauran who is Programme Manager Public Financial Management/ Budget support at the Delegation of the European Union to Sierra Leone, who underlined the long-term impact ISO 9001 would have on SMEs.