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Women's week - Meeting of Ecowas Ministries of women affairs Banjul, Gambia

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Friday, May 23, 2008

Final Communique

The Ministries of Women Affairs from the 15 Ecowas Member states, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, met in Banjul from the 12th to 13th May 2008 at the invitation of the Ecowas Gender Development Centre (EGDC) in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of The Gambia.

Concerned about the widespread gender disparities and inequalities existing in the Ecowas region, in spite of the efforts that have been made in our countries;

Conscious that the major challenge facing the Ecowas region has to do with increasing the participation of women in the development process;

Convinced that the attainment of gender equity and equity is an imperative for the sustainable development of the Ecowas region;

Taking into consideration the Ecowas Strategic Vision, which seeks to convert West Africa into a borderless region where the citizens can create and avail themselves of opportunities for sustainable production by harnessing the enormous resources of the region;

Satisfied with the high quality of the Gender Centre’s work in Ecowas Member states and the leadership role it is playing in the promotion of gender equity and equality in the Ecowas region;

Considering the need to breath a new lease of life into the efforts to attain gender equity and equality in the Ecowas region by providing the Ecowas Gender Development Centre with the necessary support to effectively execute its mandate;

Recognizing the need to make the Ecowas Gender Development Centre a centre of Excellence capable of providing first-hand information and technical expertise on areas that are relevant to gender, regional integration and development in the Ecowas region;

Recognising the importance of the Gambia High Level forum (GHLF) and aware of the need to influence the process,

Do hereby make a commitment to:

• Adopt the Ecowas Gender Development Centre’s Strategic Plan 2009 - 2013, as the main tool for the promotion of gender equity and equality in the Ecowas region;

• Support the Ecowas Gender Development Centre to take all the necessary measures for the effective implementation of the strategic plan;

• Strengthen the mechanisms of cooperation between our Ministries and the Gender Centre with the view to enchanting the promotion of gender equality in the Ecowas region;

• Call on the Ecowas Council of Ministries to adopt the EGDCwh Strategic Plan 2009 - 2013;

• Call on the Ecowas Commission to provide the Gender Centre with the human, financial and material resources necessary for its smooth functioning and the effective execution of its mandate;

• Call on the Ecowas Commission to proceed, as a matter of urgency, with the recruitment of the requisite staff of the Gender Centre in order to facilitate the effective implementation of the strategic plan;

• Call on the Ecowas Council of Ministries to recognise the Consultative Committee as an advisory body of the Gender Centre;

• Call on the Ecowas Commission and the Council Ministries to create space for the Minister responsible for Women’s Affairs of the country chairing Ecowas to be allowed to inform the Heads of States on the general situation in the Ecowas sub-region at each Summit of Heads of State and Government;

• Call on the Heads of State to include the Ministers responsible for Women’s Affairs in the ministerial delegation to the Ghana High Level Forum scheduled for September 2008, and to involve institutions responsible for gender matters in Ecowas members states in the consultation process before, during and after the Ghana Forum;

• To support Ecowas Heads of State and Government in the creation of an enabling environment for the attainment of gender equity and quality in the Ecowas region.

Author: by Mariatou Ngum - Saidy

Experts meeting on the EDGC strategic plan

Friday, May 16, 2008

Experts of the ministries of Women Affairs of ECOWAS member states last Saturday held a meeting at the Paradise Suites Hotel, in Kololi.The purposed of the meeting of experts was to prepare the meeting of ministers of women affairs of ECOWAS member states, which is in turn aimed at examining, validating and adopting the strategic plan of the ECOWAS Gender Centre. The experts meeting was also expected to propose modalities for strengthening the mechanisms, of cooperation between centre and the ministers of women affairs.

In her remarks, madam Aminatta Dibba, acting director of the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC), discloses that the ministerial and experts meeting constitutes part of the process initiated by the ECOWAS Gender Centre last year to articulate a more strategic approach in its effort to anticipate and adequately respond to the changing social, economic and political needs of women and men within the sub-region.

The EGDC strategic plan, she said, is a critical framework that is aimed at respositioning the gender centre of excellence capable of providing first hand information and technical expertise on areas that are relevant to gender, regional integration and development in the ECOWAS sub-region. She therefore added that the effective implementation of the strategic plan will necessitate strong collaboration between the gender centre and its stakeholders and partners at the national and regional levels, including government ministries, departments and agencies, civil society groups, the organized private sector, gender activists and development partners.

According to her, she has no doubt in her mind that they, as experts of the ministries of women affairs, have what it takes to assist the gender centre to lay the foundations for more concerted effort towards the elimination of gender disparities and inequalities in the ECOWAS region and for the transformation of their region into one in which all the citizens have equal rights and opportunities to participate in the development of the region and to benefit equitably from the gains of development, irrespective of their gender, and indeed their age, race, ethnicity, creed and belier.

In her opening remarks, Mrs Fatou Jasseh-Kuyateh, permanent secretary office of the Vice-President, disclosed that, in 2005, the ECOWAS gender policy was adopted as a point of reference for addressing the strategic interest and needs of men and women, and for accelerating the fulfillment of the equity and equality programmes of the community, to ensure the effective implementation of the policy in 2005, the ECOWAS gender development centre action plan 2005-2007 was formulated and implemented.

This action plan, she said, focused on four main areas and that is capacity building, awareness creation on the ECOWAS gender development centre withing the member states as well as partnership building and networking amongst key stakeholders within the ECOWAS region and beyond.

According to her, the implementation of this plan registered tremendous achievements such as institutional strengthening, visibility of the ECOWAS gender development centre, as well as cooperation among national ministries responsible for gender and women’s affairs.

Author: by Mariatou Ngum - Saiday