All Capacity Building programmes fully operational
January 2009
All Capacity Building programmes are fully operational under the new administration. During the last months the Secretariat and the Capacity Building directorate have been conducting an operational review of all capacity building programmes in order to evaluate and strengthen the portfolios, but also to institutionalize the prioritized area of Capacity Building within the World Customs Organization. Capacity Building in its present form was introduced as a priority area by the membership in 2005 which lead to the establishment of the new Capacity Building directorate in January 2006. The capacity Building directorate initiated a number of Capacity Building programmes and initiatives to meet the needs and the requests from members for implementation support. During the 2,5 years since the start of the new Capacity Building initiative, that was based on the previous long term experience of Customs modernization work, the WCO Secretariat has developed and implemented new initiatives and programmes in parallel with the establishment of a central and regional infrastructure for Capacity Building. Taking this into consideration it was time to review and update all routines and processes to stabilize the programmes for the future and to guarantee long term sustainable delivery of capacity Building for Members. The Capacity building Directorate have updated all Standard Operational Procedures (S.O.P:s) for every programme within the portfolio. The Capacity Building Directorate has presented an extensive work schedule and plan for the programmes for the next 6 months period. The service charter for the Columbus programmes includes e.g.; needs assessment diagnostics, political support missions, strategic action planning, donor matchmaking, strategic management development, Capacity Building and Technical Assistance activities for a number of areas, train-the-trainer programmes, accreditation of experts, monitoring and evaluation.