Ouagadougou, 12th September 2019.The Mediation and Security Council of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held a Special Extraordinary Session today, 12th September 2019 ahead of the Extraordinary Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government on Terrorism in the ECOWAS Region, which will hold on the 14th of September 2019 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

The Mediation and Security Council met to reaffirm the determination of ECOWAS Member States to work collectively to prevent and more efficiently combat terrorism, strengthen cooperation and coordination and redefine priority areas for Member States.

Concerned about phenomenon of terrorism in the Region, the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in Yamoussoukro on 28 February 2013 adopted the ECOWAS strategy on the fight against terrorism.

Given the continuous growing threat of terrorism in the region, the Heads of States and Government of ECOWAS and ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States) conscious of the cross-border and trans-regional nature of the terrorism threat, convened a joint summit in Lomé on the 30th of July 2018.

“The Lomé Declaration on Peace, Security, Stability and the Fight Against terrorism and Violent Extremism” was adopted, after the meeting.

After which, the Heads of State of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo met in Accra, Ghana where they discussed developments in the security situation in the Region. They adopted a number of decisions among which is the call for an Extraordinary Summit on Terrorism.

As part of the multi-level preparatory process for the Extraordinary Summit, and to involve all levels and sectors of the society, two meetings were held in Niamey, Niger. The Civilian Stakeholders meeting on Terrorism in the ECOWAS Region was the first, from the 26th to 27th August 2019. Then the meeting of the Chiefs of Defence Staff, Heads of Security and Intelligence Services followed on the 28th and 29th August 2019.