The United States and the Ecowas Community of West African States Wednesday signed a $221 million agreement on security and development of the west African region.
The partnership between the two parties borders on peace and security, improve the health status of vulnerable populations, address energy challenges, and support trade activities in the region.
Under this agreement signed by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Kadré Desiré Ouedraogo, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) West Africa Regional Mission Director, Alex Deprez, the U.S. will provide up to U.S. $221 million over the next four years in support of activities promoting ECOWAS priorities.
These include countering violent extremism in the region, particularly in the Lake Chad Basin, by empowering youth and fostering moderate, non-extremist voices; and preventing child and maternal death.
Other priorities to be addressed by the agreement are achieving an AIDS-free generation, increasing electric power generation, expanding cross-border trade; and promoting the commercial viability of business investment in West Africa.
U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Maria Brewer witnessed the signing of the agreement at the ECOWAS headquarters, where the parties also announced new activities supported by the U.S. Government under the Early Warning and Response Partnership (EWARP).
This is a U.S. Presidential initiative resulting from the 2014 U.S.-African Leaders Summit, to strengthen the West African early warning and response capacity which will enable ECOWAS and its member states to identify and respond more proactively and effectively in stemming conflicts and violence in the region.
These activities will include strengthening the capacity of the ECOWAS Early Warning Directorate including reinforcing its staffing needs and improving the quality of its data analysis and response mechanisms and bolstering the capacity of the ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN), particularly by assisting the establishment of National Early Warning and Response Centers in ECOWAS member states.
Others are mitigating electoral violence in partnership with the West African Network for Peace-building (WANEP), a project that will assist community organizations in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, and Sierra Leone to identify potential election-related violence risks; and provide grants to local civil society organizations to implement early warning recommendations before the identified issues escalate into violence.
“We firmly believe that this mutual support to ECOWAS will help to increase regional stability and reduce the potential for future conflicts,” said Deprez at the signing.
Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo welcomed President Obama’s strong commitment to support West African Early Warning and response capacity, as he expressed ECOWAS gratitude to the US Government and to USAID for the growing partnership towards poverty reduction in West Africa.
The USAID/West Africa regional mission’s goal is to promote social and economic well-being advanced by West Africans.
Spanning 21 countries, USAID/West Africa designs and implements programs with West African partners to strengthen systems of non-violent conflict management, support economic growth, and expand quality health services.
The American people, through USAID, provide economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries worldwide.
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