As part of the capacity-building activities of the WCO’s West and Central Africa (WCA) region, the WCO in collaboration with the Vice Chair for the WCA region and ROCB – WCA, organized from 29 to 31 October 2019 the 9th Meeting of Human Resource Management and Training Directors in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso Republic).
This important meeting was attended by 32 delegates (including 10 women) from 11 countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. Also participating in this meeting were the African Union, Expertise France, the Vice-Chair’s Office (WCA), the ROCB - WCA, the two Regional Training Centers (RTCs) of Ouagadougou and Brazzaville, and the Secretariat of the WCO.
The theme of the ninth meeting was “Investing in Human Capital, a key lever of the performance of Customs Administrations in WCA”. The meeting was aimed at discussing concrete and adaptive solutions to ensure effective implementation of modern human resource management (HRM) and training tools within WCA Customs administrations developed with WCO-WACAM support. The theme and ensuing discussions gave the participants the opportunity to share experiences and regional best practices.
Based on frank discussions and an inclusive approach, participants drafted a “Ouagadougou Declaration” and made a number of recommendations with a view to supporting and successfully implementing HRM reform. Both documents highlighted the extent of the roles and responsibilities of all actors in the HRM modernization. It also stipulated that all HRM and training directors should demonstrate leadership and commitment and involve all the requisite actors within their administrations in this reform. The participants thanked the WCO for its continued efforts in supporting HRM reform and modernization within their Customs Administrations and hoped that this support would continue.
For more information about this activity and HRM - HRD Programme, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.