1. From 30 May - 1 June 2003, a Consultation on Strengthening the Human Security Capacities of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and West African Civil Society was organised in Abuja, Nigeria by the Executive Secretariat of ECOWAS, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and International Alert (IA).
   

2. Based on ECOWAS’ stated commitment towards establishing a partnership with and drawing upon the available expertise and experience in civil society, the Consultation sought to examine the bases of and modalities for providing effective support towards strengthening human security mechanisms of ECOWAS.
   

3. Participants at the Consultation included senior representatives of ECOWAS institutions, civil society representatives, policy and academic experts, and representatives of bilateral and multi-lateral funding agencies.
   

4. The Consultation was addressed by the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Professor Ali Nouhoune Diallo, the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, and the Deputy Executive Secretary for Political Affairs, Defence and Security in ECOWAS, General Cheikh Oumar Diarra.
   

5. The Consultation received presentations from experts on a variety of geo-political and thematic issues necessary to assure human security in West Africa. In particular, the participants at the Consultation considered the relationship between ECOWAS and the New Partnerships for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). They also received reports on and considered the status of human security in different countries comprised in the four zones into which ECOWAS has been divided for the purpose of monitoring and early warning on security issues in West Africa.
   

6. Participants warmly received reports of the Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government held in Abuja on 28 May, 2003 and commended West African leaders for their commitment to the cause of regional integration as reflected in the effort to restore peace and stability in Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia.
   

7. The consultation also noted the progress made in the Community Parliament, and participants agreed that the result of the consultation should be officially presented to the Speaker with a view to forging stronger links between the Community Parliament and civil society institutions in West Africa.

    

   The Challenges

    

8. The consultation analysed the human security situation in West Africa according to the conditions in:

    

   • States experiencing conflict;

   • States emerging from conflict;

   • States in various stages of transition to stable democracy;

   • States in the process of consolidating democracy;

   • States facing various challenges to their human security situation and,

   considered that the central challenges for human security and sustainable development in West Africa include poverty, political and economic governance, education, youth, conflict, small arms proliferation and trafficking, manipulation of religion, citizenship and identity issues, gender, environmental degradation, migration and the diaspora, globalisation and health, including Malaria, Tuberculosis and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

• the establishment of national and regional monitoring mechanisms on the status of human security in West Africa using the zonal structures of the observation bureaux for early warning within ECOWAS;

• a review of the processes for civil society accreditation with ECOWAS, especially the 1994 Council Decision in this regard;

• the creation of a civil society unit within the Executive Secretariat of ECOWAS;

• an audit of status of implementation, including legislative domestication of ECOWAS treaties, protocols and decisions;

• the creation of an independent civil society secretariat to facilitate liaison between West Africa’s civil society organisations and ECOWAS institutions;

• a regular Peoples’ Assembly of West Africa’s peoples and organisations on the back of the Ministerial Council meeting preceding the annual summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS;

• a joint ECOWAS-institutions-civil society task force to help in developing a strategic plan for safeguarding human security in West Africa and an operational and resource mobilisation plan for implementing such strategy;

• investigate alternative creative mechanisms for funding ECOWAS’ human security strategy and capacity building and, within this context, explore the feasibility of local and external resource mobilisation among West Africans;

• promoting the benefits of ECOWAS for West Africa’s peoples, such as the ECOWAS passport and visa-free travel in the sub-region;

• popularising ECOWAS in the consciousness of West Africa’s peoples and particularly youth through appropriate programmes including commemorations of anniversaries, essay competitions, and popular media;

• active promotion of Community citizenship by ECOWAS, member states and civil society organisations.