The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU) have taken a major step together towards strengthening the peace and security architecture of West Africa with the formal launch of the implementation of the European Union Support to ECOWAS Regional Peace, Security and Stability Mandate Programme (ECOWAS-EU PSS Project).

At the launch of the 29.3-million Euro Project at the ECOWAS Commission’s Abuja Headquarters on 23^rd January 2017, the President of the Commission His Excellency Marcel A. de Souza hailed the exemplary partnership between ECOWAS and the European Union and gave the assurance that the resources would be strictly utilized in line with the Project Agreement to achieve the desired results.

‘’Indeed, the PSS Project is an evident instrument of a genuine partnership for the promotion of peace and security in West Africa,’’ the President said.

On behalf of the Commission, he expressed his appreciation to the EU and the UNDP for their steadfast commitment and for assisting ECOWAS to implement the Small Arms and Light Weapons’ aspect of the PSS Project across the ECOWAS member States.

In her address at the launch in the presence of ECOWAS, EU and UNDP officials, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs. Halima Ahmed, lauded the PSS Project as a demonstration of the trail blazing multifaceted partnership between the two organizations.

She noted that the cooperation by the two institutions in the peace and security sector has produced very valuable results.

In his remarks, Mr. Kurt Cornelis, Head of Cooperation, representing the Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria, Mr. Michel Arrion, restated the EU’s commitment and support toward the realization of the ECOWAS peace and security mandate. He noted that ECOWAS has recorded remarkable achievements, setting an example for other regions in Africa and the rest of the world on cooperation, regional integration, and especially in the area of peace and security.

He said the EU is optimistic that the implementation of the PSS Project, which started in October 2016, would be a huge success.

 The main purpose of the PSS Project is two-fold: strengthening ECOWAS’ institutional capacity in conflict prevention and resolution, and also implementing major components of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) in Member States. 

The project process started in 2010 with the planning phase. Two grants totaling 9.48 million Euro have been awarded to ECOWAS for a three-year period from October 2016. The amount is part of the 20-million Euro committed by the EU within the framework of the Project Financial Agreement signed by the two

parties in November 2013 under the 10^th European Development Fund (EDF). Under the Financing Agreement, the EU is providing 27-million Euro and ECOWAS a counterpart funding of 2.3 million Euro.

The ECOWAS Peace Fund Division coordinates the implementation of the project, which seeks to contribute to effectively addressing the myriad peace and security challenges facing the ECOWAS region. The launching ceremony was preceded by the Project Steering and Coordination Committee second meeting.