From the 11th to the 18th of February 2022, the World Customs Organization (WCO) supported the Customs Administration of Madagascar (also known as Malagasy Customs) with its human resource management (HRM) modernization initiative. As part of its modernization programme, Malagasy Customs has identified the establishment of a competency-based HRM system as a strategic priority to effectively implement its mission and strategic plan as well as to meet the opportunities and challenges emanating from the Covid-19 crisis and the implementation of trade facilitation agreements such as the World Trade Agreement on Trade Facilitation (WTO TFA).
The support was delivered virtually by the WCO Lead officer in charge of the People Development Portfolio and a WCO recognized expert in the area of HRM. The mission met its objectives by achieving the following outputs: (i) WCO People Development Diagnostic initial findings agreed upon, (ii) Preliminary Malagasy Customs’ HRM modernization roadmap formulated, (iii) Malagasy Customs’ HRM modernization project team (16 people, including 7 men and 9 women) trained on the WCO standards and tools related to the establishment of a competency-based HRM system in a Customs environment including the WCO People Development support methodology, the WCO Guide on Establishing a competency-based HRM system in a Customs environment, the WCO Guide on Managing Human Resources through crises and beyond in a Customs environment. The mission also recalled key elements of the Revised Arusha Declaration related to the critical role of human resources services and policies in promoting integrity in a Customs environment.
The agreed next steps were to finalize the HRM Modernization work plan including a realistic Roadmap as well as to initiate the development of the necessary tools for the establishment of a transparent and competency-based HRM system by Malagasy Customs, namely the job catalogue, the competency framework, the competency dictionary as well as selected competency-based job descriptions for the approved pilot site.
Mr. Ernest LAINKANA, Director-General of Malagasy Customs, expressed his gratitude towards the WCO experts for the outstanding assistance provided as well as thanked the government of the United Kingdom for providing the necessary funding through the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD TFA Capacity Building Programme to deploy the WCO support to the Malagasy Customs in the area of Human Resource Management. He added that through the modernization of its HRM system, he is confident that Malagasy Customs will be able to meet the demands of its internal and external stakeholders at national, regional and international levels.
For more information about this activity and the WCO People Development Programme, please, contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.