Praia - Cape Verde — The committee responsible for coordinating strategic planning at the ECOWAS Commission and institutions of the Community has agreed an institutional arrangement for ensuring that the strategic priorities of the Commission and its institutions are consistent with the strategic priorities as agreed in the regional strategic plan which is derived from the ECOWAS vision document.
The vision document provides a mechanism for transforming ECOWAS into a people- focused organization where its programmes and policies are citizen-driven. The regional strategic plan and spells out strategies for meeting the tenets of the vision based on the six pillars of the promotion of good governance, justice and the upgrading of the instruments for conflict prevention, management and resolution as well as the promotion of infrastructural development and a competitive business environment. It also focuses on the sustained regional development and cooperation; deepening of socio-economic and monetary integration; reinforcement of institutional capacity and strengthening of the mechanism for integrating the region into the global market.
The three-day meeting of the Strategic Planning Coordinating Committee, an inter-institutional committee of the Commission and institutions of the Community also proposed measures that would facilitate the implementation of the regional medium-term action area, including the need for increased private sector partnership in financing regional infrastructure development.
It also called for the enhancement of the powers of the Community Court of Justice and Parliament, the development of a structured sensitization mechanism for mainstreaming ECOWAS programmes, increased inter-institutional collaboration, the alignment of the organograms of the institutions with their functions and the institutionalization of the budget review committee to ensure that budget reflect strategic priorities. The committee acknowledged that the priorities of the strategic plan can only have the desired impact with buy-in by Member States and stressed the need to take appropriate steps to engender this buy-in while the Economic and Social Council for the community should be operationalized.
The meeting was called in order to discuss the regional medium-term action area document that spells out the actions to be taken by Community institutions in line with the strategic direction of West Africa as contained in the Regional Strategic Plan. Members were also expected to discuss the challenges to the implementation of the plan and make recommendations for enhanced implementation.
Opening the meeting on Monday, 21st February 2011 in Praia, Cape Verde, the Vice President, Mr. Jean de Dieu Somda stressed the importance of the document in the medium-term for the region and urged members of the committee to work assiduously towards its finalization.
Cape Verde's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jose Brito who opened the meeting, called for the integration of the provisions of the document into the policy of Member States, recalling that the structural transformation of the country was made possible through strong leadership that focused on the faithful implementation of the country's strategic plan.
Earlier in brief remarks, the Director of the Strategic Planning Unit of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Essien Abel Essien, described the institutions as vehicles for implementing the ECOWAS mandate and the committee as an inclusive tool for implementing the regional strategy.
