SIERRA LEONE WASTE MANAGEMENT TASK FORCE - 15 to 27 April 2009

In April this year, TWO World Option facilitated a 12 day trip to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, for a group of professionals from the UK Waste Management Industry.

The twelve strong group faced the realities of one of the poorest countries in the world, where the deficiencies in the waste infrastructure are striking, dramatically affecting environmental quality and the health of the local people, as well as hindering general economic development in the area.

The task force, collectively drawn from environmental consultancies, local authorities, the NHS and academia, were focused on starting the process of strategic planning for the phased development of new operational practices and infrastructure in the waste sector.

The team had the opportunity to meet with all the key local stakeholder groups, assessing needs and delivering operational and business planning training. Representatives from the team met and consulted with the Mayor of Freetown, City council officials, the British council, the World Bank, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, local hospitals and universities, amongst others.

Emerging from the experience, a group of strangers became a cohesive and focused team, passionate about bringing their unique skills to such a needy environment. Each team member has expressed the desire to continue with their involvement in the emerging agenda.

Average trip overall rating by task force members: 9.6

The WASTE MANAGEMENT TASK FORCE plans to undertake further trips to Freetown as well as providing remote support, expertise and equipment to local partners. If you are interested in becoming involved, please contact us at <info at twowolrdoption dot com>.

TWO World Option providing leaders with REAL experiences to effect REAL change.

According to AccountAbility and csrnetwork, the top ranked company in the world for accountability is BP.  Overall, European headquartered companies accounted for 18 of the 20 top places in their 2007 survey, with Barclays, ENI, HSBC and Vodafone completing the top five places along with BP.  The survey assesses the top 100 companies in the world for their reported social and environmental performance judged against criteria covering strategy, governance, engagement and impact.