WCO Career Development Programme
Brussels, 26 September 2011
Report
The latest WCO Career Development Programme (formerly the WCO Internship Programme) for 2011/2012 began this month with the participation of seven Customs officials from Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Mongolia and Vietnam.
The Programme is a fairly new initiative, having been launched in 2009 by the WCO, under the sponsorship of Japan Customs. It provides an opportunity for young customs officials with prospects to undertake work at the WCO Secretariat and has the following aims: to enable candidates to obtain knowledge, skills and international work experience; to develop and enhance networks among WCO Members and the Secretariat; to enhance the research activities of the WCO in order to support and assist the Secretariat in its mission and tasks; and to develop a pool of highly competent candidates with expertise in WCO Member administrations.
Seven Customs officials called Professional Associates will be working in different Directorates for ten months. The participation of these officials from across the six regions of the WCO enables the Organization to diversify the staff of the Secretariat and to facilitate communication with Members where neither of the two official WCO languages (English and French) is widely spoken.
WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya welcomed the seven Professional Associates participating in the 2011/2012 Programme and hoped that they would contribute positively to the Secretariat as well as to WCO Members and the regions through their work at the Secretariat.