1st meeting of the Regional Working Group on Ethics and Good Governance for West and Central Africa
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Nov 2009
Members of the Regional Working Group on Ethics and Good governance
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November 10-12, 2009
Marking another milestone in its development efforts, the Members of the West and Central Africa (WCA) held the 1st meeting of the Regional Working Group on Ethics and Good Governance, in Accra, Ghana from November 10-12, 2009. The working group, lead by Ghana, has been tasked by the region’s Directors general of Customs to come up with recommendations and solutions to the many challenges administrations face to promote integrity and combat corruption.
The 1st meeting brought together representatives from Benin, Cameroon, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo, and focused on the development of the group’s terms of reference and action plan. Representatives from the WCO Secretariat and the Regional Office for Capacity Building for WCA, also took part in the deliberations.
As part of its action plan, the working group will propose tools and recommendations to assist Customs administrations in the region to successfully implement the principles of the Revised Arusha Declaration. This declaration, approved by WCO Members in 2003, lays out 10 elements of organizational development that contribute to the promotion of ethics in the Customs environment.
This working group is one of four groups the WCA has established to further develop the capacity of Members in the region. The other regional working groups focus on: the implementation of WCO instruments; the improvement of human resources management, and the strengthening of strategic management. The 1st meeting of the group on the implementation of WCO instruments, lead by Senegal, was held in Dakar on October 26-27, 2009.
The WCO is pleased with progress in this important area of Customs capacity building, and is committed to supporting Members in the implementation of the recommendations that will come from this regional initiative.