Abuja 28^th November 2016

The 5th Meeting of the Regional Coordination Council (RCC) of the ECOWAS Volunteers Programme (EVP) has adopted the conditions of service of ECOWAS volunteers.

At the end of its two-day meeting held at the ECOWAS Commission on the 23rd and 24th of November 2016, the Council similarly adopted a new management and administrative procedures manual for the implementation of its programmes.

The two working documents would now be submitted to the President of the ECOWAS Commission for necessary endorsement and seal.

The meeting also looked at the status of implementation of tasks assigned by the 4th Ordinary Meeting of the Council.

There were presentations of the highlights of the final versions of the EVP Procedures Manual and the Conditions of Service of ECOWAS Volunteers, the consideration of EVP 2017 draft budget and work plans and the consideration of 2016 financial reports presented by the United Nations Volunteer Programme (Technical Partners to the EVP) as well as the EVP Regional Office in Ouagadougou, while the duties and responsibilities of stakeholders during the deployment of Volunteers were defined.

During the meeting, the Alternate Chairman of the Programme and Director, ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre (EYSDC), Francis Chuks Njoaguani, presented the 2017 work plan and budget based on an initial budget sum of UA500,000 (Five hundred thousand UA) granted by the budget arbitration committee of the ECOWAS Commission.

He also announced the granting of an additional amount of UA250, 000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand UA) to the PVC by the 20th meeting of the Administration and Finance Committee of ECOWAS held in Abuja from 14 to 21 November 2016, as well as the existence of a balance of about $536,070 (Five hundred and thirty-six thousand and seventy USD) of the Programme funds held by the UNV as at 17th November 2016 as well as an intervention by the ECOWAS Peace Fund.

One of the major reports presented included Steps for Financing the Perennial Phase of the Programme by the National Coordination Council Chairmen for Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Bringing the meeting to a close, the Alternate Chair, on behalf of the Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender, Dr. Fatimata Dia Sow thanked all the participants for their active, frank and relevant contributions, which resulted in the huge success of the meeting. He specially thanked the UNV Technical Adviser to the Programme for his unwavering support to the EVP.

The Commissioner disclosed that the ECOWAS Commission and all stakeholders can be proud of the Programme’s achievements despite the observed challenges which include a lack of financial resources.7

Participants at the meeting included Heads and representatives of ECOWAS Commission Directorates of Legal Affairs, External Relations, Communication, General Administration, Gender, Youth and Sports, Drug Control, Civil Society (GYDEX), Monitoring & Evaluation Unit, Manager, ECOWAS Peace Funds and Technical Advisor, United Nations Volunteer Programme (UNVP).

Also taking part were the Chairs of the National Coordination Councils of the Programme in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as well as the staff of the programme in the Regional Office in Ouagadougou and EVP National Offices in Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The EVP is the main instrument of the ECOWAS Commission for the facilitation, engagement and participation of its young citizens in peace and development initiatives through volunteerism.  It has, from 2010 to 2016 deployed 104 health and education professional volunteers (who are of 13 nationalities) to 3 pilot countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.