ECOWAS Allocates $13m For Counter-terrorism, Humanitarian Aid

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has revealed it has spent about $13m on counterterrorism efforts and to shore up humanitarian efforts across board.

The body also said it was exploring other funding options for its $2.6bn Standby Force.

The Chairman of ECOWAS,  President Bola Tinubu, revealed these as part of a one-year report highlighting the bloc’s achievements and challenges at the Sixth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union in Accra, Ghana, on Sunday.

This is contained in a statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.

The statement quoted Tinubu, who is also the Nigerian President as saying, “ECOWAS has allocated $9m to assist persons of concern, including refugees, internally displaced persons, and asylum seekers.

“The frontline member states in the fight against terrorism have also been supported with $4m under the ECOWAS Counter-Terrorism Humanitarian Response.”

Tinubu added that ECOWAS would soon convene a special extraordinary session to discuss its future.

His comments came two weeks after he was re-elected for another one-year tenure as ECOWAS Chairman at the 65th Ordinary Session of the Authority held at the State House, Abuja, on July 7.

After his mandate was renewed, Tinubu appointed his Senegalese and Togolese counterparts, Bassirou Faye and Faure Gnassingbé, respectively, to lead ECOWAS’ mediation efforts with Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Nonetheless, the ECOWAS said it was still championing efforts towards reintegrating the sister states into the nearly 50-year-old bloc.

Tinubu noted that the bloc faces multiple threats, including member states withdrawing, geopolitical rivalries, terrorism, food insecurity, climate change and the spread of misinformation and disinformation.

He said, "ECOWAS will continue to have dialogue with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to maintain unity and will convene a Special Extraordinary Summit on the future of the Community."

Tinubu also revealed that the bloc allocated at least $14m to counter-terrorism and humanitarian efforts in the most affected member-states.

He affirmed that ECOWAS had been supporting member-states to enhance electoral and governance processes, and recently deployed Election Observation Missions to Senegal and Togo – both of which elections were adjudged to be peaceful, transparent, and fair.

He also stated that the West African Network of National Academies of Sciences, and the African Forum for Research and Innovation had been established.

The ECOWAS Chairman said, “Our regional Academic Mobility Scheme has continued to equip the youth with practical skills and is harmonising education systems.

“While in the area of health, ECOWAS has continued to provide support to women with obstetric fistula, empowered women entrepreneurs in agribusiness, and focused on gender equality in education and the green economy.”