The Vice Presidency of the World Customs Organization for the Americas and the Caribbean region (OMA AMERICARIBE) successfully held this Tuesday (07.09.2021) the virtual Forum on Gender Equality and Diversity, with the support of the SECO – OMA Global Trade Facilitation Program.
This important activity brought together 21 delegations from the continent's administrations. At the opening,The Deputy Secretary of the WCO, Ricardo Treviño, announced that the initiative was “an opportunity for the region to highlight the challenges, opportunities, strategies, best practices and lines of action that support the efforts of customs services.”
The Workshop participants were also welcomed by Werner Ovalle, Guatemalan Customs Superintendent and Vice President of the WCO Region of the Americas and the Caribbean, who expressed the region's gratitude and support for this initiative, whose objective is to promote diversity and gender equality in Customs Administrations through the exchange of experiences. In addition, Ovalle stated that "gender equality and diversity are of global importance as they are a fundamental right contemplated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, classified as a legal requirement for development and sustainable growth for our countries."
To its turn, Silvan Hungerbuehler, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) stressed the importance of promoting and strengthening customs services in collaboration with customs in the region.
For its part, Johanna Tornström, Head of Gender Equality and Diversity at the WCO, presented the relevance of the agenda in customs, the context and international challenges, as well as the tools that are being developed, in order to identify areas of customs where improvements may be necessary, considering that it is a sector dominated by men.
During this event, members had the opportunity to exchange experiences and good practices, providing positive feedback on the commitment to gender equality and diversity as an integral part of customs modernization in the region.
It is worth remembering that the World Customs Organization approved a Declaration on Gender Equality and Diversity in Customs in June 2020.
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