ECOWAS Humanitarian Assistance to Cote d'Ivoire, Others

11 May 2011
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Abuja-Nigeria — The ECOWAS Commission is extending humanitarian assistance to Côte d'Ivoire and other States affected by the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency James Gbeho said in Abuja, on Wednesday, 11 May 2011. "The aftermath of the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire has given rise to serious humanitarian conditions that have left thousands of ECOWAS citizens homeless and without any means of sustenance," the President said at the opening of the ninth meeting of the Commission's Administration and Finance Committee (AFC), taking place at the Commission headquarters.

The Commission in collaboration with the African Union, the United Nations and their partners has been engaged in international efforts for the peaceful resolution of the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire following the disputed November 2010 presidential run-off elections. Ambassador Gheho said the ECOWAS Commission would provide humanitarian assistance in collaboration with other aid agencies, following an assessment by the Humanitarian Affairs Directorate of the Commission. According to the agenda of the three-day meeting, the Committee will consider a memorandum on budget for ECOWAS Response to the Humanitarian situation in Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea and Ghana. It will also discuss a Memorandum on the Revised Organogram and Strategic Plan 2011-2014 of the Dakar-based ECOWAS Inter-Governmental Group Against Money Laundering in Africa (GIABA); a Memorandum on the establishment of ECOWAS Common Investment Market Council at Regional and National Levels; the report of the meeting of the ad hoc Ministerial Committee on the construction of the Headquarters of the Community Institutions and a Memorandum on the establishment of the ECOWAS Pension Scheme.

In his address to the meeting, the Chairman of the Committee, Ambassador Adamu Abbas from Nigeria, said the "AFC has a formative responsibility of placing the first building blocks of the ECOWAS integration processes." Ambassador Abbas, the Under Secretary for Africa in Nigeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed "Nigeria's commitment to the ideals of ECOWAS and its preparedness at all times to stand up for them." The Committee meeting is the first in a series of ECOWAS mid-year statutory meetings. It is usually followed by the sessions of the Council of Ministers and the Authority of Heads of State and Government. In compliance with Article 69 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, the Committee is charged with the responsibility of considering budgets and all other issues that deal with the administration and personnel management of the ECOWAS Commission and Institutions of the Community. It also considers progress reports on tasks that may have been assigned to any community Institution and extra budgetary requests over important issues that are unforeseen and could not be accommodated in the approved budgetary allocations of Institutions.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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