What is WPDP
Launched in 2021, the Women’s Professional Development Program (WPDP) aims to provide a positive opportunity for women officers in Asia and the Pacific to advance their career pathways in their national Customs Administrations.
Advancing Women in Customs
Facilitating the legitimate movement of goods across international borders requires a quality workforce. Gender diversity at all levels within Customs Administrations ensures more effective outcomes for operational procedures, global trade facilitation and national security.
In the past decade, positive steps have been taken to improve women’s employment and career progress. However, similar to other national law enforcement agencies, Customs continues to be a male-majority profession.
The 2019/20 World Customs Organisation Annual Report announced that 15% of senior Customs roles worldwide are held by women (85% held by men), and 37% of the global Customs workforce is female.
Who are the WPDP Partners?
WPDP was initiated by Australian Border Force and is now delivered in a variety of formats in partnership with international stakeholders:
The Container Control Programme-WPDP (CCP-WPDP) is a cooperative arrangement between ABF, the UNODC-WCO CCP Women’s Network, RMIT Transnational Security Centre.
The Pacific-WPDP (PWPDP) is a cooperative arrangement between ABF, the Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO) and RMIT Transnational Security Centre.
WPDP advances women in Customs leadership
The WPDP provides a positive opportunity for women officers to advance their career pathways in their national Customs administrations. The program empowers emerging women Customs leaders to:
Enhance their ‘future thinking’ approach in relation to global goods movement.
Reflect on their leadership style and refine their leadership goals.
Cultivate an adaptive mindset to address the complexities of international trade.
Build confidence in decision-making and influencing change.
Examine their personal reputation.
Explore tools which strengthen and safeguard personal resilience.
Develop trusted networks with counterparts in other countries.
What are the outcomes of WPDP
The WPDP programs are committed to inspiring and upskilling women Customs officers from Asia and the Pacific to become capable, confident, and future-ready leaders. A key objective of the program is to excite participants about their capabilities and career directions. WPDP participants experience a significant and invaluable increase in the confidence to lead, influence, and make decisions in their professional roles which positively impacts border security.
This course has helped me prepare, anticipate, and react on emerging trends/smuggling patterns, the modus operandi employed by organised criminal organisations. It has equipped me with the necessary skills and training to outsmart these nefarious organisations.
When I signed up for the course, I was just expecting some dry PowerPoint presentations to be watched every week for a month. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be joining such an interactive, fun, hands-on learning program with the opportunity to meet, get to know and befriend not only other participants from other countries but also the organisers, speakers, and partners. The program modules were well thought out, the material useful and informative, and most importantly the entire program was never boring!
