From 16 to 20 May 2022, the WCO in partnership with the Vice-Chair of the WCO region for West and Central Africa launched the first pilot Programme to establish a Network of Champions of Customs Human Capital Management Modernization. The workshop brought together twenty-four (25) participants (20 men, 5 women) from the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), the Regional Training Centers (RTCs) and twenty (20) countries in the Region, namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, La Côte D’Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Republic of Guinea, Senegal and Togo. The workshop was held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

The objective of this comprehensive and tailor-made programme is to contribute to the performance of Customs administrations by institutionalizing a transparent and competency-based human resource management system, specifically aiming to equip HCM modernization project managers with the strategies, competencies and tools needed to play their roles to the full as champions of HCM reform; ensuring the effective and successful implementation of a modern, transparent and competency-based HCM system; creating a platform for collaboration to bolster momentum and actually introduce HCM modernization in the Customs administrations by virtue of a results-oriented regional and global approach based on shared experiences.

This programme of one year renewable for an unspecified term advocate an innovative capacity building approach consisting of various activities (individual pre-learning activities, virtual and face-to-face workshops, communities of practice, remote coaching and mentoring, peer learning, etc.) on the principles of competency-based HRM, HR project management, HR strategic management, strategic communication, change management, leadership and personal development, integrity, etc. At the end of each session, participants developed drafts of the Job Catalogue, Competency Framework and Dictionary, Competency-based Job descriptions, Work plan for HCM modernization, HCM strategy and a communication strategy. The participants agreed on uniformed templates, considering the peculiarities of each Customs administration and revenue authorities represented, that will be adapted as regional documents to be used by all  Customs and Tax administrations in the WCA region.  At the end of the workshop, the participants developed the “Brazzaville Declaration” to stimulate the HCM modernization in the region for presentation to the DGs meeting of West and Central Africa Region for adoption.

Following this workshop, participants were encouraged to share experiences and  will benefit from post-workshop activities which include virtual follow-up and coaching activities, either on an individual or group basis, every month for a 6 to 12 month period. After the follow-up and coaching activities, a face-to-face consolidation and evaluation workshop will be organized to systematically assess the programme using the WCO new training and evaluation tool.

For more information on this activity and the WCO people development programme, please, contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.