Established in 2015, the CCP Women's Network aims to actively promote women's roles in the Programme and foster an inclusive dialogue around female participation, leadership, empowerment, and freedom from discrimination in a sector often dominated by men. The CCP Women's Network encourages measures such as gender-sensitized recruitment criteria, flexible working hours, an inter-PCU support network and a training module on gender as a mandatory part of the core training. Members of the network can share information and discuss ideas via a WhatsApp messaging platform. In addition, the Women's Network Newsletter keeps PCU and ACCU officers, donors, private sector partners, civil society and other relevant stakeholders regularly updated on issues and recent developments regarding gender, workplace equality and professionalism. Finally, the CCP regularly evaluates the gender balance in all offices, PCUs, ACCUs and training events to assess the impact of interventions.
Launched in August 2021, the CCP Women's Professional Development Programme (WPDP) provides a positive opportunity for women Customs officers to strengthen their leadership skills, build their international Customs network and enhance their technical skills.
The first of its kind, this new regional initiative created in June 2021 aims to connect all women officers working at CCP Port Control and Air Cargo Control Units (PCUs and ACCUs), as well as relevant women customs and law enforcement officials in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for regular meetings, coaching sessions and other professional development activities.
In October 2019, coinciding with CCP's 15th anniversary, a new initiative was launched within the framework of the Women's Network. The CCP Champions for Change (C4C) initiative takes lead from existing gender champion endeavors to establish a network of women and men affiliated with the CCP who commit to the ideals of gender equality and the betterment of women's working conditions. The women and men that become Champions will ideally be PCU and ACCU officers, CCP staff, trainers and collaborators who actively promote and encourage gender equality in their everyday work.
In December 2020, the Women's Network launched a comprehensive survey to assess gender equality within the Programme, and solicit ideas for activities the Women's Network should pursue in the future. In total, 109 responses were recorded from CCP officers working in Port Control and Air Cargo Control Units across the globe. These responses enabled the identification of major challenges faced by CCP officers in the course of their duties and their priorities for the future. Take a look at the Summary of Findings of the CCP Gender and Equality Survey
