Monrovia — The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Wednesday began a three-day workshop in Liberia for the protection and human security integrated coordination and mechanism to be established in Liberia.
The workshop, according to ECOWAS Resident Representative to Liberia, Josephine Nkrumah, is aimed at addressing strengthening the national coordination and capacity to prevent and address vulnerabilities, victimization, and other related risks including human trafficking, and protection of persons vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence in a sustainable manner.
She said the integrated in-country advocacy, coordination, and capacity building of multiple stakeholder workshop is a continuation of the implementation of a new programming approach by the Human Security and Civil Society (HSCS) Division of ECOWAS which started in 2021and had already taken place in the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, and Niger.
According to her, the ECOWAS protection and human security integrated coordination and mechanism which is expected to be established in Liberia will promote the rights of people to live in freedom and promote dignity with equal opportunities to enjoy their rights and develop their human potential.
Madam Nkrumah said ECOWAS' overall objective of the integrated Human Security intervention is to promote and institutionalize a whole government and society approach to strengthening the protection web and human security of all of its individual member states.
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For his part, UN Resident Coordinator Neil Scott used the occasion to assure UN solidarity to ECOWAS to further strengthen the idea that sustainable peace is possible if conflict resolution mechanisms are led by actors who are culturally, and geopolitically close to the crisis in question.
He said the experience is increasingly evident and mediation should therefore be directly supported and appropriately led by Regional Economic Communities for better local awareness and sustainability of peace processes.
In remarks, Liberia's Justice Minister Cllr. Frank Musa Dean, assured the ministry of Justice of unflinching support towards the implementation of the programs on ECOWAS Humanitarian Law, Trafficking in Persons, Gender-based Violence, and Child Rights.
"Madam Country Representative, Government officials, and partners, the Ministry of Justice urges us all its unflinching support towards the implementation of the programs on ECOWAS Humanitarian Law," he said.
