Abuja-Nigeria — The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador Kadré Désire Ouédraogo, has assured staff that his management team will carry them along in delivering on the mandate of a citizen-driven regional integration in line with the organization's 2020 Vision.
Speaking at an interactive session between staff and management at the Commission's Abuja headquarters on Monday, 6th August 2012, the President solicited the cooperation of staff members for the successful completion of the institutional reforms started by his predecessors towards the transformation from an ECOWAS of States to an ECOWAS of people and the realization of the organization's vision.
"For these objectives to be realized and to serve our Community better, we need your complete and total support, devotion and loyalty," he affirmed, pledging that his team would work in transparency as well as protect and promote the interests of staff and their welfare. President Ouédraogo said the meeting, the second of its kind since he assumed office last March, was part of an administrative approach to encourage internal dialogue to ensure staff ownership and participation in decision- making and implementation of Community programmes and activities. In addition, he said the session was also to apprise staff of his team's priority action plans and programmes, and to review the Commission's 2011 Performance Evaluation Report.
In presenting the summarized Report, the Vice President of the Commission, Dr. Toga McIntosh, said the document seeks to complement the conventional reports by the President of the Commission and the Financial Controller to the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and the Authority of Heads of State and Government. According to him, the Report covers the programmes and activities of the Commission's 34 Operational Directorates and Services within the context of the organization's Strategic Plan 2011-2015.
The objective, he said, is to provide a critical review of ECOWAS performance scorecard, see how performance correlates with the strategic plan while dialogue would be initiated with Member States and Community institutions, to ensure coordination and ownership of the regional integration and development processes. Some staff members used the occasion to raise staff welfare issues, which were addressed by the relevant departments, with the President assuring that the interactive session would be a permanent feature of his team's administrative strategy.
