The 7th Edition of the Human Resources and Training Managers Workshop of the Western and Central Africa region which took place at the Regional Training Centre in Brazzaville from 25 to 27 September 2017 was successfully held and served to formulate promising recommendations.

25 delegates from the following countries participated to this workshop: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Moreover, the Vice-Presidency of the Western and Central African region, the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) of the Western and Central Africa region, the two Regional Training Centers (RTC) based in Ouagadougou and Brazzaville, and WCO Secretariat also participated to this event.

This unique encounter which is organized each year on a rota system by the Regional Training Centers of the Western and Central Africa region is a special opportunity for administrations of the region to share best practices and successful experiences in the field of human resources and training while enabling to develop strategies to build regional synergies.

At this meeting, representatives of customs administrations demonstrated an interest and expressed the will to begin and implement the HRM modernization process. It was noted that substantial progress has been achieved by customs administrations having implemented modernization activities under the WCO-WACAM Project financed by Sweden. Furthermore, HR experts from the Western and Central Africa region trained in the framework of the WCO-WACAM Project have been requested to provide support to other customs administrations of the region as part of a coaching programme piloted by the capacity building office.

At the end of the workshop, representatives from customs administrations, regional structures and WCO Secretariat formulated various recommendations, including the recommendation to expand the support provided under WCO-WACAM Project in the field of HRM to all administrations of the region while promoting a strong partnership between the project and regional structures (such as the ROCB and the RTC) in order to enhance effectiveness and impact of modernization efforts undertaken by the administrations.

At the end of the workshop, the WCO representative and regional structures were welcomed by the Finance and Budget Minister. This meeting enabled the WCO-WACAM Project to highlight progress achieved in various countries and raised the possibility to collaborate with the Ministry to extend the competency-based approach to financial authorities.

Finally, the WCO, regional structures and customs administrations representatives thanked Congolese Customs and Government for its warm welcome and for the excellent organization of the meeting.

For more information about the activity or about the WCO-WACAM Project, please contact Mr. Richard Chopra, WCO-Sweden Programme Director, Richard.Chopra@wcoomd.org