Training: Customs and Importation in the Humanitarian Context
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET
As part of Airlink’s initiatives to increase the overall capacity to respond to humanitarian emergencies, we are pleased to invite you to a training session on Customs and Importation in the Humanitarian Context, to be delivered by Virginie Bohl, coordinator of the IMPACCT Working Group.
The session will provide an overview of some of the topics covered in the “Introduction of Importation and Customs Clearance Processes” e-learning course to be launched in September 2021 by the IMPACCT Working Group. The objective of the training is to enhance knowledge, skills and understanding of the importation and customs processes, contextualized for humanitarian operations.
Featured Speaker
Virginie Bohl, Coordinator, IMPACCT Working Group
Ms. Virginie Bohl is an international expert in devising and implementing strategies to optimize the cross-border movement of humanitarian relief aid. She worked 20 years in the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affaires and has extensive experience in the preparedness, response and coordination of humanitarian response. She also has experience in information management and capacity building support to customs administrations and humanitarian organisations. She is currently the coordinator of the IMPACCT Working group.
About IMPACCT Working Group
The IMPACCT (IMPortation And Customs Clearance Together!) Working Group was founded at the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week in 2017 in this context, to address delays in importation and customs clearance processes for humanitarian aid and the problems this causes. The focus of the IMPACCT Working Group has primarily been on the importation of relief items during natural disasters. However, the nature of the group’s work has changed due to the rise of complex emergencies: protracted emergencies characterised by conflict, longevity of food crises, breakdown of livelihoods and insufficient institutional capacity to react to the crises. The group has received an increasing number of requests from humanitarian partners regarding the cross-border movement of relief items during complex emergencies and this is increasingly becoming a priority.
The IMPACCT Working Group represents a network of strategic partners coming together to develop collective and coordinated approaches and tools to support national coordination mechanisms related to customs and importation processes for disaster relief goods and equipment.