Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) hosted the 5th ISO/TC 207 Ad Hoc Group on Land Degradation and Desertification meeting from the 30th January to the 3rd February 2012 in Gaborone.
It was the first time that BOBS hosted an ISO Technical meeting, one of the few international standardization meetings hosted by an African National Standards Body.

The Working Group on Land Degradation and Desertification has been established by the ISO Environmental Management Technical Committee (ISO/TC 207), which is responsible for standardization in the field of environmental management systems and tools in support of sustainable development. The Working Group has been mandated to draft the International Standard “Environmental Management – Guidelines for establishing good practice for combating land degradation and desertification.” It consists of international experts representing 15  ISO member countries and is co-chaired by Australia and Indonesia.

Giving her keynote address at the official opening of the event, SADCAS CEO, Mrs. Maureen Mutasa said “BOBS has brought international standardization work home, an effort which enhances our active participation in international standardization work.”
The Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry Ms. P. O Serame said “nationally, BOBS has established an Environmental Management Technical Committee (EMD1) to cover standardization in the field of environmental management and tools in support of sustainable development.”

BOBS’ Managing Director, Mrs. Masego B. B. Marobela said “BOBS would not have taken up hosting the meeting if we did not have a dedicated and committed Technical Committee members active in many sectors of the economy.”
The meeting was attended by representatives of SADC national standards bodies and Botswana stakeholders.

Keynote address by Mrs Mutasa of SADCAS (Picture credit: Mmegi newspaper)

Some of the dignitaries at the event (Picture credit: Mmegi newspaper)