ECOWAS organises a Workshop on Civil-Military Coordination in Humanitarian Action in West Africa
07 Apr, 2023Abuja, April 5th, 2023.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission with the technical support of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), and with the technical and financial support of the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) is organising a workshop from the 3rd-6th April 2023 on Civil-Military Coordination in Humanitarian Action in West Africa, in Lagos, the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The overall objective of the 4-day working group meeting is to develop standards and guidelines for the use of Civil-Military Coordination in emergencies in line with the ECOWAS Humanitarian Policy Plan of Action’s Strategic Objective, and to advance the regional Civil-Military Coordination agenda in the West African region during humanitarian crisis.
The ECOWAS Commission’s Director of Humanitarian and Social Affairs, Dr. Sinitiki Tarfa Ugbe, in her opening remarks highlighted that this workshop is one of the very critical activities towards the realization of the ECOWAS mandate in humanitarian assistance. Dr. Sinitiki Tarfa Ugbe noted that the West Africa region is littered with varied humanitarian challenges and ECOWAS is deeply concerned about the increased difficulties faced in terms of access to the affected population in need of assistance and protection.
“Therefore, it is imperative for the ECOWAS Commission, Member states, Partners and CSO networks to prioritise working together to address existing challenges and limitations to humanitarian access in conflict situations and to enhance and uphold the respect of International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights and to strengthen Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination” said Dr. Sinitiki Ugbe. She noted that this workshop is intended to develop an appropriate framework that would lead to the realisation of the ECOWAS strategy in Civil-Military Coordination and encouraged the participants to avail their expertise during the workshop to enable the realisation of the set objective.
It should be noted that this workshop is part of the strategy of the ECOWAS Commission, Member States, Partners and CSO networks to prioritize collaboration towards (i) addressing existing challenges and limitations to humanitarian access in conflict situations, (ii) strengthening and maintaining respect for international humanitarian law and human rights and (iii) strengthening humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination.
The participants of the workshop are subject experts drawn from the 15 ECOWAS Member States, the ECOWAS Commission, the UNOCHA and UNHCR, the GIZ, ECOWAS Centres of Excellence and Civil Society organisations.
