On 7 – 8 May 2013, the 3rd Steering Committee Meeting within the WCO-ESA Capacity Building Project took place in Port Louis, Mauritius. The 3-year-project ‘BUILDING TRADE CAPACITY THROUGH CUSTOMS MODERNIZATION IN THE EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA REGION’ was launched in September 2011 and is financially supported by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Its five components consist of 1) Leadership and Management Development, 2) Support to the Customs Enforcement Network (CEN), 3) Coordinated border management development, 4) Support to the ESA ROCB, and 5) Country-specific support to Namibia.
The Steering Committee of the Project is composed of representatives from Mauritius, Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Finland and the WCO Secretariat and has the overall task to oversee the Project and decide on ways forward, governance issues, as well as on concrete actions within the Project.
The main objective of this Steering Committee Meeting in Mauritius was to review progress achieved so far regarding the implementation of the Project and to approve the Progress and Financial Reports. The Committee also approved the way forward regarding all five components of the Project.
Participants expressed their satisfaction with the progress so far achieved during the Project. Ways to evaluate the progress of the Project as well as a mid-term review of the Project, envisaged to take place in the coming months, were topics high on the agenda of the meeting.
Throughout the SC meeting, delegates also stressed the importance of the cross-cutting objectives, such as gender equity, integrity and environmental sustainability for any reform and modernization and thus also for the success of the Project.
Please see the Meeting Recommendations and Progress Report here (both available in English only).
The WCO wishes to extend its sincere appreciation to our Mauritian colleagues for their great hospitality throughout our stay in Mauritius and to Mr James Lenaghan for successfully chairing the meeting.