ECOWAS, the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and the United Nations Office for West Africa and Sahel (UNOWAS) have reiterated their commitment to support the development of the institutional capacity of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in order to mitigate peace and security challenges in both Communities.

At a three-day Interregional Exchange and Good Practices Workshop which ended on the 13th September, 2017 in Abuja, Nigeria, the ECOWAS Commission’s Vice-president, Edward Singhatey stated that the gathering was yet another example of the growing international cooperation among relevant stakeholders, in particular the Regional Economic Communities, in and around the region, in their collective resolve to collaborate and jointly confront the challenges that threaten our collective security.

Vice President Singhatey maintained that “convening this workshop is apt, given the increasing security challenges in many of our countries and across our regions. The world, and indeed, Africa is living through major transformation like never before. Peace and development are under assault from a host of trials, which merit our closer attention.”

The highly interactive workshop of regional stakeholders, presented an opportunity for the formulation of concrete strategies, the acquisition of good practices, knowledge and tools to enhance the development of ECCAS institutional capacities in the areas of Early warning, conflict prevention, mediation support, security cooperation, civil society engagement, elections, regional integration, institutional reforms and resource mobilization. The workshop also fostered discussions aimed at forging a quadripartite relationship between ECOWAS, ECCAS, UNOCA and UNOWAS on shared priorities in peace, security and regional integration in West and Central Africa.

Commending the positive actions taken to ensure peace, security, stability and development in the two sub-regions, the ECCAS Deputy Secretary-General-in- charge of the Department of Physical, Economic and Monetary Integration, Mrs. Marie Chantal Mfoula lauded the ECOWAS Commission for its continuous support and cooperation.

She remarked that “the holding of this workshop is an eloquent testimony to the political will and commitment of the two high-level leaders of ECCAS and ECOWAS to see more concrete and more diversified cooperation between the two Regional Economic Communities.”

The workshop which was jointly organized by ECOWAS, UNOCA and UNOWAS aligns with the decisions taken by the Secretary-General of ECCAS and the President of the ECOWAS Commission on the margins of the African Union summits in 15th July, 2016 and 28th January, 2017.