Training for Spill Response in East Africa
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
The question of how to manage emergency preparedness and response in the oil and gas sector was on the agenda at a workshop in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania (17-20 October).
Participants from countries across the East Africa region gathered to highlight good practices in developing national preparedness and response systems, as well as how to improve understanding of risk assessments related to oil and gas development and potential impacts on environment. The group also worked to identify areas for strengthening emergency preparedness and response at national and regional levels.
International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Colleen O’Hagan helped to facilitate the workshop and provided an overview of the Organization’s International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC) – the treaty covering measures for dealing with pollution incidents.
This Zanzibar workshop was funded by the Norwegian Oil for Development (OfD) Programme and implemented through their partnership program with UNEP in collaboration with the Nairobi Convention Secretariat, the Indian Ocean Commission and hosted by the Zanzibar Environment Management Authority (ZEMA).
Participants were from Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, as well as resource personnel from Nairobi Convention, Indian Ocean Commission, Norwegian Coastal Administration, East Africa Community, ITOPF, State University Zanzibar and IMO.