WCO Sub-Regional Workshop on Disaster Management and Supply Chain Continuity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: Sharing of Experiences and Lessons Learned will be held from 28 to 30 March 2022 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

COVID-19 and climate change trends show that all countries are concerned by unpredictable scenarios. The COVID-19 pandemic also showed that not all Customs administrations were sufficiently prepared to face this kind of disruptive event. The WCO COVID-19 project offers the opportunity to foster sub-regional cooperation and the sharing of experiences based on the expertise acquired in the framework of the COVID-19 crisis.

To reach this objective, the WCO Sub-Regional workshop on disaster management and supply chain continuity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: sharing of experiences and lessons learned will raise awareness of the role of Customs in Natural Disaster Response and similar situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It will help in improving the level of preparedness to efficiently and effectively respond to and recover from emergency situations resulting from infectious diseases outbreaks and natural disasters. The WCO and its strategic partners will assist participant countries throughout the event.

The key objectives of this workshop are to:

• Create a platform to identify challenges, potential solutions and mechanisms to facilitate cooperation in the event of a disaster, including the current COVID-19 pandemic;
• Present WCO instruments and tools relevant to the context of disaster relief to Customs administrations in the sub-region
• Provide information on international instruments, tools and best practices for the release of relief goods;
• Share best practices and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic;