Developing country participation critical to ISO’s future

18 September, 2019

The Director General of the Lebanese Standards Institution, Chair of the ISO Committee on Developing Country Matters (DEVCO), Lena Dargham, presided over the annual meeting of the general assembly of DEVCO, held in Cape Town-South Africa. Around 420 representatives of 125 Member-States participated in the meeting to discuss the challenges that developing countries will be facing in the coming ten years and their needs in the field of standardization and training as well as the need of necessary support to build their capacities. They also deliberated on the policies that ISO should adopt vis-à-vis developing countries to increase their participation in international standardization in order to preserve their national interests, protect their economies and facilitate trade.

Furthermore, the meeting this year was of a particular significance considering the discussed topics, especially in regard to the completion of the new ISO Strategy 2021-2030. Emphasis was put on the importance of incorporating into this strategy the needs of developing countries and the contribution to the implementation of the sustainable development goals, including the fifth goal related to gender equality.