WANEP NEWS: Issue 7

On June 25, 2015, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, WANEP rolled out the drums to celebrate
the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS 40th anniversary in an interactive Forum
held in Dakar, Senegal. The Minister of African Integration, NEPAD and Good Governance represented
by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Monsieur Massamba SENE gave the Keynote address aptly titled:
“Sustaining Peace and Security in West Africa – 40 Years of Challenges and Opportunities for CSOs Engagement.”

This follows on the Media Roundtable earlier organized by WANEP on May 18, 2015 as a platform for robust reflections with the media and CSOs on the accomplishments of ECOWAS and challenges in the last four decades.

Speaking at the Interactive Forum, Her Excellency Mrs. Salamatu Sulieman,
ECOWAS Commissioner of Political Affairs, described the high powered event
as “an excellent opportunity to share experiences and explore collaborative strategies for entrenching sustainable peace in our region.”

The Executive Director of WANEP, Mr.
Chukwuemeka Eze, in his welcome address reiterated the cordial relationship of ECOWAS with CSOs as stipulated in the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF). A relationship, he said, has resulted to the emergence of a broader civil society platform such as the West Africa Civil Society Forum, WACSOF.

Board chair of WANEP Regional, Professor Isaac Olawale Albert, identified the competent human resources in ECOWAS, the partnership with CSOs and with centers of excellence as contributing significantly to making “ECOWAS a pride to the global community and a model Regional Economic Community on the continent.”