WCO organizes Management and Leadership Development Workshop for Cameroon Customs
Douala, 4-13 October 2010
In the context of its Capacity Building programme and support to Cameroon Customs, the World Customs Organization (WCO) organized an 8-day Management and Leadership Development Workshop in Douala, Cameroon from October 4 to 13, 2010.
The workshop brought together 24 senior and middle-managers, as well as officials with high management potential from all areas of the General Directorate of Customs of Cameroon. The event was facilitated by three experienced experts namely, Mr. Daniel Perrier, WCO Secretariat; Mr. Jean-Jacques Richard, French Customs, and Mr. Jhon Fonseca, University of Costa Rica.
Management and leadership development is now largely recognized as an essential pillar of any Customs reform and modernization process. A strong management capacity is also essential for Customs administrations to achieve their operational and strategic objectives. With this in mind, the WCO has launched the Management Development Programme, an initiative aimed at providing support to its members in the areas of management and leadership, in close collaboration with the academic sector.
The contents of the workshop are largely based on the PICARD Professional Standards and focused on a number of important issues such as leadership, visioning, people management, delegation, motivation, negotiations, communications, change management, and decision-making. The workshop allowed participants to debate on how best to use these skills in their position and on the most effective ways to adopt modern management at the institutional level. The event was composed of group discussions, presentations on theory, as well as role play and case studies. Participants expressed great satisfaction with the workshop and felt it contributed to their learning objectives.
The WCO Management Development Programme is progressively expanding and will allow other Customs administrations to benefit from similar workshops in the future, in all regions of the World.