Fighting corruption in Côte d'Ivoire: Customs commit to sustainable development of its integrity approach

At the initiative of the WCO Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme, a workshop dedicated to the sustainable development of a culture of integrity was held in Abidjan from 25 to 26 June for the benefit of the Customs administration of Côte d'Ivoire.

Bringing together more than 25 customs officials and led by experts from the WCO A-CIP Programme and Mali Customs, this activity to strengthen the integrity approach enabled participants to acquire the tools and efficient measures needed to ensure the sustainability of the organisational changes undertaken within the Côte d'Ivoire Customs administration in line with the reform and modernisation initiatives deployed by the Customs of Côte d'Ivoire, particularly as outlined in its reorganisation plan initiated in 2020.

With the support of the Côte d'Ivoire Customs A-CIP Committee, participants formulated a series of individual and collective integrity commitments that will shortly be presented to the Directorate General for discussion and validation. In this respect, particular emphasis was placed on collective action, consolidation of the staff rotation system, updating work procedures, preventive actions based on effective management of risk mapping, strengthened and ongoing dialogue with internal and external stakeholders, and rigorous exploitation of existing data, including continuing to exploit the results of the Côte d'Ivoire Customs Integrity Perception Survey (CIPS) carried out in 2021.

Other highlights of the workshop included recognition of the key role of the Côte d'Ivoire Customs A-CIP Committee in the good governance of the A-CIP Programme and an in-depth discussion on the ongoing benefits for Customs performance. These benefits include the collection of duties and taxes, developing a sustainable integrity approach, and ongoing action to optimise the quality of Customs service, including actions related to gender equality and diversity.

The WCO A-CIP Programme provides technical assistance and capacity-building support to WCO Member administrations implementing integrity-related initiatives in line with the WCO Revised Arusha Declaration. For more information, please contact [email protected].