Edward E. Mmatli
Marketing and Communications Committee Chair
SADCA

The Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Accreditation (SADCA) successfully held the virtual 2024 SADCA Regional World Accreditation Day Celebrations on 14 June 2024 in a panel discussion format on a virtual platform (webinar) in accordance with the 2024 WAD theme:  “Empowering Tomorrow and Shaping the Future.” SADCA is an internationally recognised Regional Accreditation Cooperation that operates in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region i.e., Southern Africa. The event (SADCA Regional WAD Celebration) is the third regional WAD celebration organised by SADCA.  It was attended by one hundred and ninety-one (191) participants from the SADC Region as well as Africa as a whole and globally. Mr Boniface Badubi of SADCAS was the Master of Ceremony for the event.

The SADCA Chair, Mr Robin Gopee, delivered the opening remarks and discussed the efforts towards maintaining an international recognised Regional Accreditation Cooperation as a critical tool/vehicle that supports socioeconomic development including industrialisation in the SADC Region. His opening remarks also included the various initiatives towards raising awareness on accreditation in the SADC Region including organising the World Accreditation Day commemorations at the regional level as well as at the national level by SADC Members States among others.  Mr Brahim Houla, IAF Communications and Marketing Committee (CMC) Chair, gave a presentation on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how accreditation is a critical vehicle towards achieving SDGs.

The panel discussion was moderated by Dr Ron Josias, SADCA MRA Council Chair, and the panel discussion team comprised of Ms. Cheshta Matadeen-Domun  from Mauritius Accreditation Service (MAURITAS), Ms. Eve Christine Gadzikwa from Southern African Development Community Accreditation Service (SADCAS), Mr. Thabo Chesalokile and Mr Shadrack Phophi from South African National Accreditation System (SANAS). The panelists explained how accreditation and their respective accreditation bodies (ABs) contribute to sustainability issues especially in helping business and consumers to make better choices, e.g. with respect to climate change mitigation and adaptation. They emphasised that ABs play an important role in enhancing various SDGs’ implementation in order to empower tomorrow and shape the future by providing accreditation to conformity assessment bodies  that cover the following SDGs: SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

The critical role played by conformity assessment (Inspection, Testing, Calibration and Certification) in empowering tomorrow and shaping the future was emphasised. The panelists noted the benefits of digitalisation in the quality of service by the ABs. It was also noted that SADCA members are at various developmental stages of digitalisation with some members at the initial phases while other members are now reaping the rewards of digitalisation. Various case studies were provided during the panel discussion and the presentation regarding SDGs by the IAF CMC Chair. Mr Edward Mmatli, Chair of the SADCA Marketing and Communication Committee, paid gratitude to all the participants for making the 2024 WAD Celebration successful while closing the event.