The West Africa Quality System Programme (WAQSP) funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by UNIDO, built capacity of 25 persons selected from the National Quality Auditors (Sierra Leone Standards Bureau, Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, The National Protection Area Authority, The Environmental Protection Agency, etc.) to becomeresource persons regarding the ISO 14001 v 2015 standard. So, the overall objective of the training, held from 24 to 26 September, 2018, in the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau Conference Hall, was to strengthen and develop the expertise in Environmental Management system (EMS), within the ECOWAS member States.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Professor Samuel Edmond Nonie, The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Institute of Public Administration and Management, University of Sierra Leone. He underlined the importance of the EMS training to raise public awareness for the need to protect our environment and asked government and companies to minimize their environmental footprint in order to promote sustainable development.The Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau, Prof.Thomas B. R. Yormah, thanked the EU, UNIDO and ECOWAS Commission. UNIDO Country Representative, Mrs. Mariatu Swarray, in her statement recalled the role of UNIDO as implementing agency in the building up of the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau, the national focal point of the National Quality Infrastructure in the provision of testing equipment, chemicals, reagents, culture, technical assistance to the Metrology Building and basic training on Management System Standards such as ISO 17025, 9001 and now the ISO 14001.The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Rev Abraham Jones-Sesay commended the European Union for financing the training programme and UNIDO for implementing such initiatives with the collaboration of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. “The Government of Sierra Leone is pleased to be associated with this environmental programme and to support it to achieve its goal of protecting our environment and the commitment to continual prevention of pollution”, he concluded.

At the end of the workshop, participants understood environmental management definitions, concepts, and guidelines; they identified the requirements of the ISO 14001 standard, wrote an effective environmental policy and develop objectivesand planned for required resources to implement anenvironmental management system.