Features
Significance of World Standards Day
Throughout the world, standards play a critical role in the socio-economic development of humankind for which reason life continues to see great improvements in all aspects of life. It is standards that make it possible for durable products to be produced and also ensure that goods produced are satisfactory and of high quality.
In the area of agriculture for example, relevant applicable standards make it possible for the most appropriate soils to be identified for use for crops to ensure high productivity. In the industrial sector also, standards make it possible for durable and satisfactory products to be produced or manufactured to satisfy the tastes of consumers.
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
In the same way, when it comes to the building and construction industry, the materials used are carefully selected in line with appropriate standards so that the buildings that are put up can withstand all kinds of pressures including earthquakes.
In commerce and trade, the taste of consumers come into play so standards help to produce only quality products to meet the taste of consumers thus the application of relevant standards is needed in all aspects of human life.
GUARANTEE SAFETY
Standards are applied to guarantee public health, public safety and the protection of the environment. They help to guarantee the health of people in all parts of the world as well as the safety of mankind for example vehicles and aircraft are able to perform their functions efficiently when standards are applied.
In the same way, the environment in which we live is adequately protected because of application of standards. Without the application of standards, there would be chaos, disorderliness and underdevelopment which would make it difficult for mankind to live satisfactorily in the world.
SIGNIFICANCE
It is in view of the significance of applicable standards that World Standards Day is celebrated on October 14 every year. The importance of the occasion lies in the fact that it makes it possible for experts of standards to be honoured throughout the world.
These experts contribute to standards development through the contributions they make towards the work of various standards institutions or bodies throughout the world. World Standards Day again serves as an occasion which draws attention of the world to the need to apply standards in everything we do, namely, the building of aircraft and shipping lines, design and construction of vehicles, drug manufacturing, preservation of medicine, the transportation sector and many other sectors.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The theme for the celebration of this year’s World Standards Day is “Standards for Sustainable Development Goals”. This theme focuses on the fact that we need a world that calls for better, fairer and more sustainable development.
It is only when we fight for sustainable development that our present and future generations can be guaranteed meaningful life on this earth.
FUTURE GENERATIONS
For example, if certain individuals use illegal mining to enrich themselves and destroy the environment, our present and future generations would be denied meaningful life in the world. What this means is that, we all need to work hard to make it possible for life in this world to be enjoyed today and protected for future generations.
The Sustainable Development Goals represent a shared vision for peace and prosperity, for all people and for the planet. Every Sustainable Development Goal is a call for action but we can only attain our purpose if we work together.
PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS
Standards offer practical solutions that we can all stand behind or support. When we apply standards, we become part of the solution we are all seeking.
The world is faced with a number of problems including the havoc brought about by COVID-19 but solutions can only be found when we work together through the application of standards in the global community.
Standards, development and promotion is undertaken by National Standards Bodies in collaboration with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
INAPPROPORIATE STANDARDS
Many of the problems we face in society today stem from none application of relevant standards. The production of substandard medicine does not help to solve our ailment problem. Similarly, the collapse of buildings in various parts of the country and also other parts of the world come from non application of standards.
The fruits we eat, if not produced according to standards, create trial health problems for our people. To overcome our socioeconomic challenges, we should not just produce things anyhow but rather undertake production in line with application of relevant standards. This is the only way to overcome our health challenges, safety of people and also problems the environment faces.
Let us support the application of relevant standards in all sectors of the economy and make our shared vision for good life a reality.
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By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
One of the issues we have been grappling with as a nation is corruption, and it has had such a devastating effect on our national development. I have been convinced that until morality becomes the foundation upon which our governance system is built, we can never go forward as a nation.
Our traditional practices, which have shaped our cultural beliefs, have always espoused values that have kept us along the straight and the narrow and have preserved our societies since ancient times.
These are values that frown on negative habits like stealing, cheating, greediness, selfishness, etc. Our grandparents have told us stories of societies where stealing was regarded as so shameful that offenders, when caught, have on a number of instances committed suicide.
In fact, my mother told me of a story where a man who was living in the same village as her mother (my grandmother), after having been caught stealing a neighbour’s cockerel, out of shame committed suicide on a mango tree. Those were the days that shameful acts were an abomination.
Tegare worship, a traditional spiritual worship during which the spirit possesses the Tegare Priest and begins to reveal secrets, was one of the means by which the society upheld African values in the days of my grandmother and the early childhood days of my mother.
Those were the days when the fear of being killed by Tegare prevented people from engaging in anti-social vices. These days, people sleeping with other people’s wives are not uncommon.
These wrongful behaviour was not countenanced at all by Tegare. One was likely going to lose his life on days that Tegare operates, and so unhealthy habits like coveting your neighbour’s wife was a taboo.
Stealing of other people’s farm produce, for instance, could mean certain death or incapacitation of the whole or part of the body in the full glare of everybody. People realised that there were consequences for wrongdoing, and this went a long way to motivate the society to adhere to right values.
Imagine a President being sworn into office and whoever administers the oath says, “Please say this after me: I, Mr. …., do solemnly swear by God, the spirits of my ancestors and the spirits ruling in Ghana, that should I engage in corrupt acts, may I and my family become crippled, may madness become entrenched in my family, may incurable sicknesses and diseases be my portion and that of my family, both immediate and extended.”
Can you imagine a situation where a few weeks afterwards the President goes to engage in corrupt acts and we hear of his sudden demise or incapacitation and confessing that he engaged in corrupt acts before passing or before the incapacitation—and the effect it will have on his successor? I believe we have to critically examine this option to curb corruption.
My grandmother gave me an eyewitness account of one such encounter where a woman died instantly after the Tegare Priest had revealed a wrong attitude she had displayed during the performance on one of the days scheduled for Tegare spirit manifestation.
According to her story, the Priest, after he had been possessed by the spirit, declared that for what the woman had done, he would not forgive her and that he would kill. Instantly, according to my grandmother, the lady fell down suddenly and she died—just like what happened to Ananias and his wife Sapphira in Acts Chapter 5.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
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BY ROBERT EKOW GRIMMOND-THOMPSON
