Emergency preparedness and response in the oil and gas sector was at the core of a workshop held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (7-10 May). The aim of the workshop was to strengthen the country's capacity to prepare for and respond to marine pollution from oil spills.
This workshop follows on from a series of events developed with the Republic of Equatorial Guinea with a view to making recommendations to improve the national preparedness and response system in the country, including a more robust national oil spill contingency plan. The course also focused on the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC), which deals with pollution incidents, either nationally or in cooperation with other countries.
The workshop was organized under the auspices of the Global Initiative for West, Central and Southern Africa (GI WACAF) – a joint IMO-IPIECA project. The event brought together over forty representatives from different ministries, public agencies and the private sector involved with the country's national preparation and response system.
IMO's Julien Favier of the GI WACAF project and a team of consultants facilitated the event, which was hosted by Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications.