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Self Report 2018

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

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  • 4B
    Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

    Individual Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • The World Customs Organization commits to maintain smooth communication between customs and other actors in order to ensure mutual understanding and comprehension and also to ensure that aid reaches those in need in a timely manner.


    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The World Customs Organization commits to strengthen cooperation and coordination with other national government agencies involved in border management to secure the smooth flow of relief consignments.


    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The World Customs Organization commits to work with other government agencies in developing national emergency plans and to carry out simulation exercise.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The World Customs Organization commits to increase its work with administrations that have experienced emergency situations in order to collect concrete cases on their practices and to develop best practices and standards.


    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The World Customs Organization commits to launch a new initiative to support customs administrations in West Africa thanks to funding from the Government of the Netherlands. This assistance programme will enable the customs administrations of the countries most severely impacted by the Ebola virus disease, as well as other countries in West Africa, to be better prepared in the future to cope with health-related and natural disasters.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    To assist governments in ensuring secure, fast and efficient clearance of relief consignments, the World Customs Organization (WCO) has implemented a number of measures. It has developed international standards - contained in Specific Annex (SA) J5 to the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) and in Annex B.9 to the Istanbul Convention - and a number of tools to support stakeholder engagement, coordinated border management, risk management, etc.

    The WCO provides implementation assistance to its members and facilitates the exchange of experience between administrations in the area of Natural Disaster Relief (NDR). The WCO implements the Customs for Relief of Epidemic Diseases (C-RED) Project funded by the Dutch Government.

    During the reporting period (January - December 2017) the number of Contracting Parties (CPs) to the RKC increased from 105 to 113 and the number of acceptances of SA J5 - from 26 to 30. During 2017, the number of CPs to the Istanbul Convention increased from 68 to 69, while the number of acceptances of Annex B.9 remained unchanged - 46 acceptances.

    In 2017, personal protective equipment was procured under Component 1 of the C-RED Project. Under Component 2 of the project, the WCO, in cooperation with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), delivered six national support missions to four beneficiary countries in West Africa. Component 2 of the C-RED project is aimed at developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for receiving relief consignments and equipment imported for humanitarian purposes, providing capacity building support for the implementation of the SOPs and conducting simulation exercises in the beneficiary countries.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • By reporting to, or using reports prepared for, UN principal organs, UN governing boards, or other international bodies
    • Through multi-stakeholder processes or initiatives (e.g. IASC, Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, etc).
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Specific performance indicators have been set to measure progress under the WCO C-RED Project. These include number of front-line customs officers provided with self-protection equipment, number of national SOPs endorsed by relevant national stakeholders, number of members receiving capacity building support, number of simulation exercises facilitated, etc.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Adherence to standards and/or humanitarian principles
    • Buy-in
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Despite the challenges, the WCO has achieved very good progress in implementing its Agenda for Humanity commitments. The WCO is committed to successfully resolving the challenges related to the adherence by members to international standards, achieving effective multi-stakeholder coordination and ensuring members' buy-in. 

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    The WCO is committed to promoting its instruments, tools and initiatives aimed at facilitating the movement of relief consignments and to successfully implement the C-RED project aimed at assisting Customs Administrations in West Africa to be better prepared to minimize the effects of regional epidemic diseases and natural disasters.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    The WCO is progressing towards achieving the transformation in close cooperation with UNOCHA, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), the World Health Organization (WHO), other humanitarian actors, regional economic communities and various national stakeholders.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    Under the WCO C-RED project, SOPs for receiving international emergency relief consignments and equipment imported for humanitarian purposes are being developed in four beneficiary countries in West Africa in cooperation with a wide range of national stakeholders - government agencies and humanitarian actors.

    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction