Abuja, 21^st February 2017

The President of the ECOWAS Commission Mr. Marcel de Souza paid a working visit to the Early Warning Directorate (EWD) Situation Room on Monday 20 February 2017.

President de Souza was shown round facilities at the upgraded Situation Room by the Director, Early Warning Dr. Gueye Abdou Lat who thereafter gave a short presentation on the operations of the Situation Room including a demonstration of video conferencing and the ECOWARN geoportal for monitoring and analyzing incident and event data for use in early warning and response.

The President thanked the Director and team for their efforts in supporting the ECOWAS Commission and Member States. He expressed the hope that the National Centers being established in Member States will revitalize the ECOWAS Early Warning system while many more benefits are to be expected from the use of similar   facilities in the region.

Responding, the Director, Early Warning disclosed that Member States will also benefit from the same type of equipment and systems as part of efforts to reduce the gap between Alerts and Response.

He maintained that through the project Member States will have the same capability to exchange information, receive early warning and response guidelines, and direct videoconference with Headquarters on emerging situations that could negatively impact on populations, as part of the strategy to strengthen the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture.

Supported by the government of the United States (US), the Early Warning and Response Partnership (EWARP) project, is providing state of the art equipment, including computers, printers, telecommunication and videoconferencing gadgets, expanded internet network, various software and information systems including a geo-portal station, and furniture for the effective discharge of its duties.