More than fifty representatives of ECOWAS bilateral and multilateral Partners met
Friday, 3rd of May, 2013, at the Commission’s headquarter, to discuss the content of the strategic document of the Community Development Programme (CDP. The meeting was chaired by the Vice President of the Commission, His Excellency Toga Gayewea McIntosh.
The objective was to share opinions and suggestions so as to improve the content of the strategic document of CDP which aims to improve the quality of life in the region and to realize the ECOWAS Vision 2020.
This strategic document presents the inventory, the analysis and the priorities of
key projects and programs implemented in the region. The analysis of the regional situation identified five major challenges namely, governance, intra-regional trade, the lack of competitiveness, the lack of coherence of development programs, the lack of long term planning. In response to these major challenges, four priority programs were identified as the pillars of the CDP strategy. These include, integration of people, governance and human development, economic integration, development of infrastructure, creation of wealth, strengthening of the partnership.
After the presentation of the strategic document of CDP, the participants felt that
the content is relevant. However, they have made contributions to improve the document. These observations were made on the criteria for selecting projects, the political
risks, the scarcity of funding, the harmonization of procedures, the role of WAEMU
Regional Economic Programme (PER) and coordination difficulties of regional
actors.
The CDP program initiated by the Macroeconomics Department will be submitted to
donors in December during a round table. It is supported in the region by the CDP
National Committees, CDP Regional Committee and the Platform of NGOs (non-governmental organizations).
The meeting was attended by the Commissioners Ibrahim Bocar Ba, head of
Macroeconomic Policies Department and Adrienne Diop head of Human Development
and Gender department. Several ECOWAS Directors also attended the meeting.