WCO Career Development Programme 2011/2012
Brussels, 19 June 2012
Report
The WCO Career Development Programme for 2011/2012 ended successfully with a reporting session during which each of the Professional Associates made a presentation on their research paper to the Secretary General and the management team of the WCO.
The Programme is a fairly new initiative, having been launched in 2009 by the WCO, in cooperation with Japan Customs. It provides an opportunity for selected candidates to undertake work at the WCO Secretariat and has the following aims: to enable candidates to obtain knowledge, skills and international work experience; to develop and enhance networks among WCO Members and the Secretariat; to enhance the research activities of the WCO in order to support and assist the Secretariat in its mission and tasks; and to develop a pool of highly competent candidates with expertise in WCO Member administrations.
Under the current 2011/2012 Programme which commenced in September 2011, seven Customs officials from Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Mongolia and Vietnam have been working at the WCO Secretariat, and have engaged in different professional tasks at the WCO. The participation of these seven officials from across the six regions of the WCO enables Members of the Organization to appreciate the Programme which has significantly enhanced and diversified the staff of the Secretariat. Participants will be leaving the Secretariat in July.
At the end of the reporting session, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya congratulated the officials on their completed research tasks and appreciated the contribution they had made to the WCO over the past 10 months. He also emphasized that each Professional Associate is expected to keep “connected” with the WCO Secretariat and to be a contact point after returning to their home administrations as this would contribute positively to knowledge sharing. Furthermore, he hoped that the Professional Associates would make further efforts to liaise with other WCO Members and regions to strengthen the global Customs network.