The 10th edition of the annual coordination meeting between the ECOWAS Commission and the Development Partners will be held in Abuja from 15 to 17 September 2014 to discuss the process of coordinating and deepening regional integration.
This 10th annual coordination meeting to be held under the auspices of the President of the Commission H. E. Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo, will strengthen political dialogue to better coordinate response mechanisms related to regional priorities and to anticipate the prospect of support from partners in the framework of the implementation of the regional agenda.
In addition, the meeting will review the progress of the integration process, the institutional reforms as well as the achievements and challenges. Also, the meeting will verify the status of implementation and monitoring of commitments made by the parties and identify opportunities for improved partnerships.
Three panels will be conducted during the meeting. The first will focus on the lessons learned from the management of the crises and consolidation of the peace and security. The discussions under this Panel will mainly focus on the major lessons learned from the management of the Mali crisis, stability and development challenges in the Sahel-Sahara areas, Coordination of the regional responses, Current security challenges; and initiatives underway to consolidate peace and security in West Africa. The ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (Leader), the Commissioner for Macroeconomic Policies and Economic research, the Commissioner for Gender and Social Affairs, representatives of United Nations, African Union, Switzerland and GIABA will be key panelists.
The second panel on the Consolidation of the Economic Integration Process and Financing Challenges will consider the issue of regional integration financing. Discussions will focus on the challenges for the ECOWAS CET implementation, ongoing initiatives in the infrastructure sector, involvement and role of the private sector in the implementation of the regional agenda, innovative mechanisms for financing of the major integration projects. The panelists will be the ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade, Customs and Free Movement of Persons, the Commissioner in charge of Industry and Private Sector Promotion, the Commissioner for Infrastructure, and EU, ADB, World Bank, WAPP and EBID representatives.
The third and final panel focuses on the institutional and financial performance of the ECOWAS Commission. This panel will address primarily the issues of institutional governance, financial and management performance and capacity building. The discussions will mainly focus on the Investment in human capital, the Commission’s strategic and programming guidelines, and administrative and financial reforms underway, financial performance of the Institutions. The panelists will be the Vice President (Leader), the Commissioner for Finance, the Financial Controller, the Commissioner for Human Resources, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Culture and Germany, GIZ, UNDP and UNECA representatives.