Changing lives through quality and standards

Since  its launching in 2017, the Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP) has demonstrated the immense potential of quality infrastructure and standards to boost the competitiveness of value chains and help countries engage in global trade. Recognizing how the programme is positively changing the lives of its beneficiaries, UNIDO has launched a series of impact stories that bear testimony to this.

The GQSP has supported more than 250 quality infrastructure institutions and conformity assessment bodies all over the world, putting at their disposal global tools like the Quality Infrastructure for Sustainable Development Index, the LabNet and the Standards Compliance Analytics tool. It has also directly supported over 275 firms, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, in improving their operations, management practices and access to new markets.

Melissa Pérez, Administrative Manager of La Quina farm in Costa Rica, is one of these producers: “With the support of the GQSP, we now keep a record of all information of our cattle, which allows us to have better practices on the farm and prepares us for exporting to the EU market”.

The GQSP is a global initiative developed by UNIDO and the Government of Switzerland, through its State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which has so far assisted 12 countries to boost their competitiveness in 16 value chains.

Read Melissa´s and other stories of how GQSP is changing lives here.

For more information contact Bernardo Calzadilla Sarmiento (B.Calzadilla [at] unido.org (B[dot]Calzadilla[at]unido[dot]org))