ECOWAS Holds Strategic Retreat for its Council of the Wise
20 Feb, 2022ECOWAS Holds Strategic Retreat for its Council of the Wise
Abuja, Nigeria, February 18, 2022. The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is holding its strategic retreat and planning workshop for the Council of the Wise (CoW) on the 21st and 22nd of February, 2022 in Lagos, Nigeria.
The CoW is one of the mediation organs of the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture established under the third chapter of Articles 17 and 20 of the 1999 Protocol relating to the mechanism for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peacekeeping and security, as a supporting structure for preventive diplomacy and mediation interventions in the region.
The Council Members will be reviewing the political and security situation in the region. While identifying concrete plans of action for the COW interventions, they will, jointly with the ECOWAS Commission work out and validate a one-year Plan of Action.
Apart from presentations on the political process of the region, emerging threats to peace and security, and general alignment of CoW’s intervention strategies, the meeting will also feature debriefing and brainstorming sessions on swift response strategies aimed at mitigating the growing peace and security challenges in the region.
Furthermore, participants will receive a comprehensive briefing on the ECOWAS Early Warning Mechanisms as requested by Council members at an earlier orientation workshop, while developing modalities for the operationalization of the Council.
It would be recalled that the reconstituted Council held its orientation workshop for the nominated members in May 2021 in Accra, Ghana. The ECOWAS CoW is currently under the leadership of former Nigerian President, H.E Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Endorsing the list of the nominated members at its 59th Ordinary session in June 2021, the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of States and Government further directed the President of the Commission to provide the Council with the necessary support, including technical and administrative backstopping, to effectively execute its mandate.
The strategic retreat is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Folke Bernadotte Academy, (FBA) Sweden.
