Nine MoFA departments receive ISO9001

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 Nine departments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MoFA, have received ISO 9001 (quality management systems) from Bureau Veritas, a new achievement resulting from implementing the Ministry's strategy, vision as well as from its development and improvement of procedures and services provided to various categories of customers.

The newly-certified departments include six from the sector of Assistant Foreign Minister for Political Affairs; the Studies and Research Department; the Secretariat General of Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Services; and the Human Rights Department.

The certification was given after an audit team from Bureau Veritas examined the records, transactions, performance indices and compliance with international standards set by International Organisation for Standardisation, ISO.

The new certification raises the rate of ISO 9001- certified MoFA departments to 59 percent, up from 32 percent. The ministry plans to prepare all of its organisational units in 2016 for receiving ISO 9001.

The results of the second-party auditing were reviewed at a meeting attended by Ahmed Abdul Rehman Al Jarman, Assistant Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Khalid Abdullah Belhoul, Acting Director of Strategic Planning & Institutional Excellence Department, the directors and deputy directors of the involved departments, the internal quality audit team, and the second-party audit team of Bureau Veritas Certification.

Mr. Belhoul said that the achievement reflects the efforts being made by the Ministry to meet the demands of institutional excellence and keep pace with the vision and efforts of the government. The certificate, he noted, is but the means, and excellence is the ultimate goal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Belhoul praised the staff of the departments and the internal audit team for contributing to this achievement without relying on consultancy firms.

He also commended the role Bureau Veritas played in implementing the quality management system for ISO 9001.