West African Customs Administration Modernization (WACAM) Project gathers Regional stakeholder and communication experts in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Constructive Regional Workshop on Stakeholder Relations held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

The WACAM Project, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), aims to contribute to ongoing modernization efforts of customs administrations in West Africa. The WACAM Project is a direct response to priority development needs identified by Customs Administrations in the region. Through regional workshops and national support missions, the project aims to present best practices in various areas of strategic management and is delivering capacity building support to address specific needs in the field of Human Resource Management, Stakeholder Relations and Resource Mobilization.

From the 19^th to the 23^rd of November 2012, the WACAM project delivered, in close coordination with the Customs Administration of Côte d’Ivoire (CIV) and the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) for the West and Central Africa region of the WCO, a regional workshop on Stakeholder Relations. The close cooperation between the WCO and the local authorities has resulted in the delivery of yet another constructive regional workshop under the WACAM Project. The workshop indeed raised awareness among participants on the importance of developing a clear stakeholder strategy and establishing structured dialogue platforms and consultative mechanisms with key stakeholders in the framework of customs modernization efforts. The workshop covered key topics, which included stakeholder mapping and analysis, modes of stakeholder engagements and communication and negotiation techniques. Moreover, the WACAM regional workshop also presented the customs administration of CIV, one of the frontrunners in the ECOWAS region in the field of communication, with the perfect opportunity to showcase its achievements and share its practices in the field of communication to the participants.

The workshop, facilitated by WCO experts and an expert from the Swiss Customs Administration, gathered 19 carefully selected participants from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cap Vert, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Togo as well as 2 ROCB officers. The regional workshop was very well received by the participants and some of them have already enquired about the modalities to receive national support in the field of stakeholder relations with a specific focus on consultative mechanisms and communication techniques.

Based on this positive experience in Abidjan, the WACAM is now looking forward to the delivery of its next regional workshops in the field of Human Resource Management, which will take place in French in Dakar (Senegal) from 28^th of January 2013 to 01^st of February 2013 and in English in Banjul (The Gambia) from 11^th to 15^th of February 2013!

For more information or queries, please contact the WCO WACAM Project Manager, Mr. Richard Chopra (Richard.chopra[at]wcoomd.org).