Development Partners Support ECOWAS

(PANA) - ECOWAS development partners have reaffirmed their determination to continue supporting the organisation towards the realization of its vision of developing the region and improving the welfare of its 230 million citizens.

An ECOWAS statement made available to PANA here Wednesday said this was one of the outcomes of the 5th ECOWAS/Development partners’ annual coordination meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria, earlier this week.

The annual review meeting provides a platform for interaction between ECOWAS and its partners, the review of ECOWAS strategic plans and capacity building programmes as well as review their cooperation and project into the future.

The two-day meeting, the first since the January 2007 transformation of ECOWAS into a Commission, provided an opportunity to update ECOWAS partners on the progress made since the institutional transformation.

It was also dedicated to the presentation of ECOWAS’ key strategic plans for the attainment of its objective to move from an ‘ECOWAS of states’ to an ‘ECOWAS of peoples’.

Commission President Mohamed Ibn Chambas presented the ECOWAS Strategic Vision for 2020, which aims at a border-less region where people have access to and are able to harness its enormous resources through the creation of opportunities for sustainable production and environment.

He highlighted the vision programme’s overall objectives of sustainable development, poverty eradication and regional peace and security along with their principles.

Chambas further presented the ECOWAS short, medium and long-term priorities, accompanied by a coherent and integrated platform for cooperation and partnership to which he invited the development partners to continue to provide support.

Details on how to translate the ECOWAS Vision 2020 into concrete actions were later presented by the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission as incorporated in the Medium Term Plan 2008-2010, while the Commissioner for Administration and Finance outlined the capacity-building component.

The Financial Controller also presented a paper on the implications of the transformation for the accounting and financial systems of ECOWAS.

At the opening of meeting, Chambas said ECOWAS was being transformed into an efficient and effective vehicle for deepening regional integration, whose prospects have brightened with the establishment of important structures that will facilitate the realization of its objectives.

These include the strengthening of its capacity in financial management, the ongoing recruitment process, the creation of a department for external relations to coordinate partner support, the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation as well as a unit for strategic planning.

He further briefed the donors on other activities being undertaken by ECOWAS, including the ongoing negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union for a free trade area of the two regions.

Regrettably, he said, a process that should boost the integration of the region was threatening to divide countries of the region into blocs of least developed and non-least developed countries.

“If ‘we are to make progress, we need to come to some accommodation that forestalls any disruption in trade between the two regions by January 2008, while maintaining West Africa as an integrated market and a common customs union,’’ he added .

In another speech on behalf of the EU Presidency, the Portuguese Ambassador to Nigeria, Maria de Fatima Perestrello, praised ECOWAS for its various initiatives, particularly in the promotion of regional peace and security.

The Ambassador, whose country currently holds the rotational chair of the EU Pre sidency, however said in spite of these achievements, a lot still needed to be done in ensuring that regional policies were accompanied by the adoption of internal changes in Member States.

Without their firm commitment, she added, it will be difficult to accomplish the ambitious projects proposed by ECOWAS.

The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations, Alberic Kacou, also praised ECOWAS for its success in various areas and challenged the ECOWAS Commission to develop strategies to ensure its strategic participation in the global trading system .

There was also a presentation by the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSCOF) on its interface with ECOWAS towards the integration of the region and the realization of the vision of an ECOWAS of people.

The meeting also considered the role of women, farmers, private sector operators and civil society to the realization of the goal of integration and stressed the importance of health, education and the improvement of the living standard of the people of West Africa.

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