The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has committed $12.6 million to humanitarian efforts across the West African region for the year 2024. This allocation aims to address the growing challenges of terrorism, conflict, and displacement affecting several member states.
During a two-day Strategic Engagement Workshop in Abuja, organized by the ECOWAS Commission in collaboration with the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Dr. Sintiki Tarfa-Ugbe, Director of Humanitarian and Social Affairs at the ECOWAS Commission, detailed the allocation of funds. She revealed that $4 million has been designated specifically for Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and neighboring countries impacted by terrorism spillover effects, including Ghana, Benin, Togo, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Tarfa-Ugbe highlighted ECOWAS’s robust humanitarian response mechanism, emphasizing the importance of monitoring and evaluation in ensuring effective implementation of aid. She cited successful projects in Togo, where funds have supported agricultural expansion and access to fertilizers, and in Gambia and Liberia, where cash assistance and food nutrition programs have been implemented.
Abdou Kolley, Director of Cabinet of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, addressed the broader challenges facing the region, including the threat of member state withdrawals, terrorist attacks, youth unemployment, and environmental disasters. He underscored the importance of ECOWAS’s role in mitigating these crises and fostering regional stability.
The workshop, which brought together government-owned television station heads across West Africa, aimed to strengthen cooperation between ECOWAS, the media, and other stakeholders in promoting peace, prosperity, and democracy throughout the region. Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of MFWA, emphasized the need for a well-informed public and a free, professional media to support ECOWAS’s efforts in addressing these critical challenges.
