Thanks to support from the WCO’s WACAM Project, for over a year now Gabon has been working on the reform and modernization of its Human Resource Management (HRM) system.  After having developed and implemented the whole series of staff planning tools, Gabon Customs hopes to establish a modern HRM system.

At the request of the top authorities of Gabon Customs, the WCO’s WACAM Project conducted a support mission in Libreville between 5 and 9 December 2016. The aim of the event was to support the efforts undertaken by both the HR Modernization Committee and the Steering Committee to implement a competency-based HRM system.

The purpose of the mission was twofold: first, to assess how the competency-based approach and its tools are working at the pilot site and second, to come up with an HR Strategy for 2017-18.    

During the mission, the expert, accompanied by a team from the Customs HR Department, met with the Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Finance and her team. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of replicating the Customs experience across all Ministry departments.

In order to assist with implementation of the staff planning tools, a training session on Customs valuation  (level 3) was organized for 12 inspectors at the pilot site (Libreville airport) in order to enable them to assess competencies. 

A draft HR Strategy, including practical HR management principles, was developed and will be presented to the Steering Committee on 16 January 2017 for approval.       

For further information, please contact Mr. Richard Chopra, WCO-WACAM Project Manager (richard.chopra@wcoomd.org).