Ministers responsible for Gender and Women Affairs and Gender Experts from ECOWAS Member States meet in Accra to validate the Strategic Plan 2023-2027 of the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre.

Accra, the capital of Ghana, will host a Meeting of Gender Experts from 27th to 29th March 2023, followed by a Meeting of Ministers responsible for Gender and Women Affairs of ECOWAS Member States on 30th March 2023. Organised by the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC), the main objective of the Meeting of Experts and representatives of civil society organisations working on gender and development, is to discuss, review and finalise the draft the EGDC Strategic Plan 2023-2027, prior to its validation by the Meeting of Ministers responsible for Gender and Women Affairs and subsequent adoption by other statutory bodies of ECOWAS.

The EGDC Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027 is under the theme: “Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls: An Imperative for the Achievement of Sustainable Development and Effective Regional Integration in West Africa”, thus setting the tone for the contributions that the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre seeks to make to the regional integration process in the medium to long terms.  The goal of the Strategic Plan is to build on the progress and achievements that have been made over the years and to contribute to sustainable development and economic and social justice in the ECOWAS region, through the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

This strategic plan was developed with the view to reposition the EGDC as a centre of excellence with the capacity to contribute to the transformation of West Africa into a just and secure community in which men and women have equal opportunities to participate, decide, control and benefit from all development initiatives, within the framework of ECOWAS Vision 2050, which aims at creating “a fully integrated community of peoples in a peaceful and prosperous region, with strong institutions and respect for fundamental freedoms, and working towards inclusive and sustainable development”. It is based on the five main pillars that support the priorities of ECOWAS Vision 2050. It seeks to promote gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls and the acceleration of economic and social development and regional integration.