Dakar, the Senegalese capital, will host three statutory meetings of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) from 9 to 13 May 2016 which are the 19^th meeting of the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC), the 36^th ordinary meeting of the Mediation and Security Council (MSC) and the 76^th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers.

The 19^th meeting of the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC) holding from 9 to 11 May will set the ball rolling for this series of meetings which will feature chiefly, the presentation of the new President, Vice-President and Commissioners of the ECOWAS Commission.

The meeting will also be devoted to the consideration of all major issues affecting the deepening of the regional integration process, particularly the functioning of Community institutions and bodies.

Member States delegates will therefore consider the tasks assigned to the institutions and the Community’s financial situation, in addition to the Memorandum on Phases 1 and 2 of the Lungi Logistics Depot in Sierra Leone.

Discussions will equally focus on the memoranda on the transformation of the Missions Planning and Management Unit into the Peace Support Operations Division, the Community Strategic Framework, payment of resettlement allowances to statutory and professional officers, and the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority.

Other items tabled before the 19^th AFC meeting are revision of the ECOWAS staff regulations, presentation of the financial controller’s 2015 interim report, update on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between West Africa and the European Union and status of the Regional Indicative Programme.

The meeting will end on 11 May and will be followed the next day by the 36^th ordinary session of the Mediation and Security Council (MSC) involving the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence of ECOWAS Member States.

This one-day meeting will discuss the political and security situation in some Member States and the different electoral processes underway in the region.

The Agenda of the 76th ordinary session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers contains several items slated for decision, endorsement or information.

The Council is made up of Member States’ Ministers of Finance and Integration and will consider in particular, the 2016 ECOWAS Interim Report and the 2015 Final Report of the Financial Controller.

It is also expected to review the report of the 19^th AFC meeting and appraise the implementation status of the tasks assigned by its 75^th session.

The last two items for the decision of Council are the presentation on the Community’s financial situation and the consideration of the draft Agenda for the 49th ordinary session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government which will be held on 4th June 2016 in the Senegalese capital.

Endorsements will be sought for the report of the Member States’ Ministers of Ouality meeting and the adoption of eleven ECOWAS Harmonized Standards, as well as the final report and communiqué of the 17^th ordinary meeting of the Assembly of Health Ministers of the region.

Similarly, a presentation on the Technical Note on the participation of the West African Health Organization (WAHO) at the high-level Summit on HIV/AIDS will be made to Council members who will also consider the memorandum on the Model National Disaster Management Agency for Member States.

Items presented for the information of Council border on institution reforms, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between West Africa and the European Union and the status of the Regional Indicative Programme.

The 76^th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers will afford a forum for the swearing-in of the ECOWAS Commission’s new Vice President and Commissioners who assumed duty in the first quarter of 2016.

The new President, Mr. Marcel de Souza on the other hand, will be sworn in before the 49^th ordinary session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government to be held in the Senegalese capital on 4th June 2016.