From 15 to 17 March 2021, the WCO Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme for Customs organized its annual coordinators’ meeting via KUDO, gathering more than 50 representatives from 17 A-CIP current partner administrations.
The workshop aimed at supporting in particular the delivery of WCO A-CIP results through project management skills enhancement among A-CIP coordinators, as well as taking stock of lessons learned and best practices under the Programme over the past year, including adaptations that were made in light of COVID-19. A-CIP partner administrations who joined the Programme last year had the opportunity to provide feedback on the conduct of the Customs Integrity Perception Survey (CIPS) in their country as well as how its results would be utilised. The meetings also included feedback on the remote technical assistance and capacity building activities organised over the past months, especially in the areas of stakeholder engagement, internal control, and building a culture of integrity. An overview of future activities related to human resources management, training institution support and risk management was also provided, all relating to the ten key factors of the WCO Revised Arusha Declaration, key instrument of the A-CIP Programme.
During the last day of the workshop, representatives of all 17 current partner administrations were invited to share their ideas and key messages to support and enhance the Programme. There was unanimity among participants that the WCO A-CIP Programme and its objectives are needed now more than ever in the face of global crisis. There were also calls to further enhance the exchanges among the A-CIP coordinators under the Programme to share knowledge and experience as well as progress towards Programme results.
As it was underlined by Ms. Nikita Dhawan, representing the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), funding the Programme, the WCO A-CIP Programme offers an innovative results-based approach for Member administrations committed to the fight against corruption. Her words echoed those of WCO Capacity Building Deputy Director, Mr. Ebenezer Gebding Tafili, who emphasized the availability of new integrity-related tools at the WCO, such as the new integrity e-learning module and upcoming enhanced Integrity Development Guide.
For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org