The World Customs Organization (WCO) has announced that 'Munerah Al Rasheed' has been elected as head of its Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILO) network for a two-year term (2025-2026). 'Al Rasheed' is the first Arab woman to serve in that role. The election of 'Al Rasheed' to serve in that role was announced in the 31st Global RILO Meeting held recently at the WCO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Previously, 'Al Rasheed' held the position of vice president as well as the position of Director of the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for the Middle East (RILO ME) at the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA). Al Rasheed's election to this role is due to RILO ME's significant contributions, under her leadership, to realize the WCO's targets. Moreover, 'Al Rasheed' has represented (11) WCO local offices across the Middle East region at various meetings, conferences, and workshops, playing a crucial role in overseeing and supervising their activities in order to monitor the progress of activities. 'Al Rasheed' also provided the necessary support and promoted effective cooperation with local offices in the region, counterpart regional offices, the WCO, and other law enforcement authorities, with a view to strengthening collaboration and cooperation. Al Rasheed's endeavors extended to include staging training workshops for local offices on anti-smuggling systems and their applications for the purpose of increasing quality of anti-smuggling data, establishing a reliable database for customs personnel worldwide, and improving the classification of regional offices at the global level.
With nearly two decades of experience, 'Al Rasheed', in view of her extensive academic background and professional expertise, has demonstrated exceptional capability in driving and managing change through cultivation of strategic partnerships. Her expertise is not limited to organizational transformation and operational control but also extends to policy and procedure development and talent guidance to realize objectives and address any emerging challenges
