On the occasion of this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day, the WCO has released a new video focusing on the links between gender equality and integrity. The video builds on an earlier Guidance Note on the topic, published in June to help Members implement gender-sensitive and inclusive anti-corruption measures.

Both the video and Guidance Note were produced with support from the WCO Anti-Corruption & Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme, funded by Norway and Canada. They leverage discussions on the topic held during the Programme’s capacity building and technical activities since 2019, as well as its collaboration with the WCO Gender Equality and Diversity Virtual Working Group.

The Secretary General of the WCO, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, stated “By helping Members move forward their agendas on gender equality & diversity, and ensuring their integrity-related actions are inclusive and gender-responsive, the WCO recognizes these issues as critical to creating a positive, supportive, and inclusive organizational culture based on integrity.”

Addressing gender in anti-corruption policies makes sense from an economic and development perspective. The WCO A-CIP Programme encourages WCO Members to include a gender perspective alongside the WCO Revised Arusha Declaration key factors when implementing integrity initiatives. Members are encouraged gender mainstream all anti-corruption and integrity actions, to ensure that women and men benefit equally, and that inequality is not perpetuated in the action itself.

With the help of the WCO A-CIP Programme and the WCO Gender Equality and Diversity Working Group, new insights and guidance for Members will continue to be gathered. For example, the Customs Integrity Perception Survey responses enable further analysis of the gender dimensions of the perceptions on integrity. And as more Members implement and monitor integrity-related initiatives, the collective experiences of all stakeholders will shed more light on this important issue. Looking forward, the WCO A-CIP Programme is also working with several partners to build a Next Generation Networks within Customs administrations. These networks are committed to discussing all aspects of inclusion and diversity.

For more information on the WCO A-CIP Programme and other WCO Capacity Building activities, including those related to Gender Equality and Diversity, please contact: capacity.building@wcoomd.org