By Olimatou Coker
The Gambia Standards Bureau in partnership with Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) recently trained 40 youth trainers on quality.
Speaking at the YEP office where the training was organised, Papa Secka, director general – Gambia Standards Bureau said the training was organised as they prepare for the second MoU between them and the International Trade Centre.
He said they are working with YEP to promote quality in the areas of building capacity, supporting enterprises to adopt quality measures as well as promote quality in accordance with ISO 9001, which is to ensure focus on meeting customer expectations and delivering customer satisfaction.
He described quality as cross-cutting and important in every line of activity, adding that they want trainers to be competent which was why they organised the training.
He noted that competence is an ingredient that is vital to have certain things right.
“In The Gambia we use quality very loosely without really understanding what it is”, he postulated, saying “unless we begin to understand what quality is exactly we would not be able to properly do quality in production and quality service”.
Margareta Funder Von Kirchbach, officer, Export Quality Management Trade Facilities and Policy for Business Division of Market Development at International Trade Centre in Switzerland said they want to see quality initiatives happening in the Gambia over time implemented by the trainers but also other people.
She noted that quality can help in all areas – quality of life, quality of services, and industries to become competitive.
“If trainers keep up the enthusiasm we have a great future for the Gambia”, she stated.
Raimund Moser, project manager for YEP explained that since the beginning of the YEP project in The Gambia, they have invested in a number of youth to become trainers and advisers to support the improvement and enhancement of quality in different companies and sectors.
He added that in order to create more employment and income the need to improve quality is important.
He noted that it was also important to ensure trainers are in a position to meet the quality required which was why they organised the training.
“Quality is key in everything”, he told the gathering. “We cannot improve the economy, create more jobs or produce more without quality.”
