From 4 to 8 July 2022, the World Customs Organization (WCO) successfully organized a national Training-of-Trainers (ToT) Workshop, based on the WCO competency approach, at the Customs Institute of the State Customs Committee in Tashkent.

Human Resource Management and Development (HRMD) is among the top priorities of the two-year roadmap developed following the visit of the WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, to Tashkent in November 2021 and his meeting with H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The aim of the workshop was mainly to embed Competency-Based Training as a new paradigm within the academy instead of Knowledge-Based Training. Through this workshop, WCO aimed at equipping the Uzbek Customs academy and the retraining institute with a pool of 20 (5 women and 15 men) competency builders in technical and managerial areas, able to effectively enhance the training delivery system and deliver competency-based and tailor-made training to the Uzbek Customs staff.

The workshop focused its attention on critical areas such as the principals of Competency-Based Training, the result/impact-based training cycle, the adult learning cycle and models, the design of tailor-made training material, training delivery techniques, and the evaluation of training activities on participants and organizational performance. The workshop, which is highly practical and interactive, relies on a blended learning approach and gives the participants the opportunity to apply their new competencies through group exercises, simulation exercises as well as role-plays.

The WCO is looking forward to monitoring and evaluating the progress of the implementation of the Competency-Based Training within the academy and the follow-up activities such as virtual coaching sessions and action plans for development planned for the current year. The participants were encouraged to pursue their efforts in performing as competency builders and are committed to being actively involved in delivering Competency-Based Training.

WCO Experts were received by the Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, Mr. Akmalkhuja Mavlonov, where he was briefed on the main outcomes of the Workshop. Follow-up actions, as well as the WCO’s support for the implementation of the Customs roadmap, were discussed during the meeting. Parties also had a chance to exchange views on future plans for developing a bilateral relationship between the WCO and Uzbekistan Customs.

For further information on this activity and on the WCO’s People Development programme, please contact the WCO Capacity Building at: Capacity.Building@wcoomd.org.