Page 22: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Jul/Aug 2017)

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INTERVIEW

To say that Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-

Henry is passionate about all matters surrounding maritime and seafarers is a bit of an understatement. Prior to taking “I’ve always had a passion for maritime and the shipping environment,” said Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, who com- the helm as president of the World Mari- pleted her doctoral thesis on the carriage of dangerous goods time University (WMU) two years ago, by sea. “at the time it was a very unusual topic to choose. I she served as the Director of the Inter- was looking at lawmaking by international organizations and the resultant impact.” national Labor Standards Department of

The topic, which she admits was a bit esoteric when it was re- the International Labor Offce (ILO) in searched and written, was her effort to fnd a niche to add value to the existing safety at sea discussion of the time. “I thought it

Geneva, Switzerland, responsible for de- could have a signifcant impact, particularly when you look at veloping the Maritime Labor Convention, the amount of goods carried by sea, and the amount of goods that are considered dangerous,” she said. “It was another way to 2006. Maritime Reporter & Engineering look at the impact on the oceans, and through this I got to know

News was at WMU in Malmö in late June the International Maritime Organization much better.” 2017 to sign a Memorandum of Under-

MLC, 2006 standing with WMU and Marine Learning

Following her studies, Dr. Doumbia-Henry joined the Inter-

Systems to jointly produce a benchmark national Labor Organization (ILO) as a commercial lawyer, and courtesy of her maritime background, she became the de study on global maritime training prac- facto “maritime” lawyer at ILO. As history suggests, a for- tices and trends. Dr. Doumbia-Henry tuitous choice by both ILO and Dr. Doumbia-Henry, as she served as the architect of one of the most sweeping instru- discusses the future course of WMU and ments to meaningfully impact the seafarers’ work and person- the importance of the coming survey.

al lives – MLC, 2006. 22 Maritime Logistics Professional July/August 2017 | |