ECOWAS seeks particular summit on regional integration to deal with challenges

The Financial Neighborhood of West African States (ECOWAS) is about to carry a particular summit centered on the way forward for regional integration to sort out the multifaceted challenges dealing with the subregion.

The announcement was made by Omar Touray, ECOWAS President throughout the 52nd Odd Session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Safety Council (MSC) in Abuja on Wednesday.

Touray highlighted that the summit was prompted by the event challenges and the quickly evolving geo-strategic and geo-political setting, which complicate efforts in the direction of regional cohesion and integration.

“As we commemorate the forty ninth anniversary of our collective regional integration challenge, our area continues to be confronted with a number of interlocking threats, together with existential ones, posing vital challenges,” Touray mentioned.

He identified that the Sahel area faces each local weather and man-made crises, resulting in terrorism and violent extremism, whereas the Gulf of Guinea is grappling with unlawful fishing, drug trafficking, and the dumping of poisonous waste, all of which adversely have an effect on livelihoods.

Moreover, governance deficits and marginalization have strained social contracts, resulting in political rivalries, useful resource competitors, organized crime, and violence.

In response to those challenges, the ECOWAS Fee has initiated technical preparations for the inclusive Particular Summit on the Way forward for Regional Integration in West Africa.

The announcement adopted a gathering of ECOWAS ambassadors on June 29, 2024, on the MSC session to debate the subregion’s safety scenario and the fee’s efforts in political, safety, humanitarian, and preventive diplomacy areas.

The upcoming summit will take into account the report of the fortieth MSC on the Ambassadorial Degree and memoranda on the political, peace, and safety conditions within the subregion.

It should additionally evaluate the operationalization of the ECOWAS safety structure and the reviews from conferences of ministers of finance and defence.

Touray expressed confidence that the summit’s deliberations would result in knowledgeable conclusions and constructive suggestions for the consideration of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Authorities.