On the 5th and 6th of June 2024, the WCO organized, on a virtual basis, three sessions to introduce the new edition of the Gender Equality Organizational Assessment Tool (GEOAT) that was launched in December 2023. These introductory sessions allowed participants from 27 countries to understand better the key concepts related to gender equality and diversity (GED) and why this is important for Customs. Participants were also guided through the GEOAT and its 6 Principles and how to use the tool by assessing the implementation of indicators against an evaluation scale. Furthermore, a new dedicated template for conducting the GEOAT assessment, along with a GED action plan model, was presented. Participants also had an opportunity to learn from the practices of the Customs of Benin or the Botswana Unified Revenue Service on their experiences using the GEOAT to assess their administrations and draft action plans based on the results.

These GEOAT introductory sessions were a collaborative effort, organized under the framework of four different capacity-building programmes – the Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) funded by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO), the Sida-WCO Trade Facilitation and Customs Modernization Programme (TFCMP) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A CIP) Programme funded by Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme funded by the Government of United Kingdom. Thanks to the funding of these programmes, the sessions were interpreted into Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Uzbek. The WCO encourages those Members who participated in the sessions to complete the self-assessment of their administration using the GEOAT template.

For further information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.