ECOWAS organized a workshop to plan, coordinate and monitor the European Union Support Programme to the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA IV)

A Workshop on Planning, Coordination and Monitoring of the European Union Support Programme to the African Peace & Security Architecture (APSA IV) was held from 31 May to 02 June 2023, in Lagos, Nigeria. The European Union (EU) support to the African Peace and Security Architecture Program provides a continental framework for the African Union Commission (AUC), Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms (RMs) to jointly prevent, manage, and resolve conflicts in Africa.

The Objectives of this workshop were to review the progress of the implementation of the project (Planning, Achievements, Challenges, Opportunities); To review the planning of ECOWAS APSA IV 2023 activities and to complete the ECOWAS Monitoring and Evaluation Matrix, to reinforce the ownership of the project by the respective stakeholders, to enhance the coordination and the visibility of the project and to prepare the African Union upcoming Joint Monitoring Mission (JMM) to ECOWAS.

The meeting was attended by the Permanent Representative of ECOWAS to the African Union, the Director of Humanitarian and Social Affairs of the ECOWAS Commission, the Director of Strategic Planning, M&E, the Manager of the ECOWAS Peace Fund, and professionals from ECOWAS Directorates for political affairs, Peacekeeping and Regional Security, External Relations, Early Warning, General Administration, and Financial Reporting and Grants.

During the opening ceremony, Mr. Dieudonne Nikiema, Manager of the ECOWAS Peace Fund, welcomed the participants and   flagged the importance of the APSA support Programme to ECOWAS. The project which started in March 2020 will be closing by the end of February 2024. It  includes a series of activities involving all relevant Directorates present Mr. Nikiema concluded his welcome message by indicating that this meeting should appraise the level of achievements as well as the gaps and challenges encountered.

In his opening remarks, HE Mr. Francis OKE who chaired the workshop  urged the participants to proceed to a deep analysis of the implementation of the project and flag out the achievements, challenges and recommendations so as to increase the level of performance of APSA IV. He recommended that the implementation period of the project be extended beyond the set date of 29 February 2024.

Participants discussed the opportunity of exploring other funding provisions under the European Union, namely the Early Response Mechanism-ERM and the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).  The workshop ended with the adoption by the participants of the report and relevant recommendations.