Group Advises ECOWAS to Partner AU, UN in Mediation with Niger, Burkina-Faso, Mali

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been advised to partner with the African Union(AU), the United Nations (UN) and the Diaspora Community to intervene in the mediation process with the three Sahelian countries of Niger, Burkina-Faso and Mali in the ongoing plan of bringing them back into the regional bloc.

The call was made on Thursday in Abuja at a forum organised by the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS) and Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) Ghana with the theme: “Strengthening Response to Democratic Recession in West Africa: The Role of the Diaspora Community.

In a communique issued at the end of the forum, the failure of ECOWAS in its recent mediation efforts with Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso was recognized, and a call was made that the regional body should partner with the African Union, the United Nations and the Diaspora Community to intervene in the mediation process.

ECOWAS was urged to improve on its communication strategy and clearly communicate information to the citizens of the community, as the majority of citizens in the Alliance of Sahelian States (AES) are not aware of the implication of the exit from ECOWAS.

A request was made to ECOWAS to deploy an all-female delegation to mediate with the military leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, bearing in mind that an all-men delegation has not worked in recent time.

The participants at the forum agreed to continue to support ECOWAS as an agent of integration of the peoples of the region, calling on the regional body to reinvent itself in promoting the ECOWAS of the People. Support the immediate constitution of ECOSOC which aims to promote the ECOWAS of the People.

The communique further read: “We reiterate our strong opposition to the overbearing colonial legacies and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) in the domestic affairs and the peacefully established status of territories of the region.

“On the need for complementarity, we call for the full participation and involvement of the Diaspora Community, CSOs, and other critical stakeholders in decisions affecting the people of the region.

“Appeal to the military leaders of the Alliance of the Sahelian States to remain in the ECOWAS. while calling for the immediate restructuring of ECOWAS: ensuring checks and balances are effective. Condemn the structure where power is concentrated in the Heads of States over the ECOWAS Parliament and the Regional Court.

“Recommend a strong CSO and diaspora network to mobilize resources for advocacy and for the protection of human rights in the region and demand a more democratic region that is able to meet the needs of the people, we immediately call for immediate closure of the gap between the citizens and the leaders. We demand that ECOWAS be more responsible and more responsive to the needs of citizens.

“Call for the defense of human rights activists, especially women who face a double challenge as human rights defenders.  In addition, women will be more vulnerable with the exit of the AES.

“Support calls for two-term limits for ECOWAS heads of state and government, while condemning all unconstitutional changes of government in the region, including changes to a country’s constitution to extend the tenure of presidents. Urge ECOWAS to openly condemn member states violating its Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. 

“Urged ECOWAS to develop a mechanism of communicating early warnings/compliance/response to democratic recession in the region.

“Recommend unconventional ways e.g. DemoCratic (the arts) to advocate for good governance in the ECOWAS region.”
 
The participants are expressed worries that “the last two decades have seen manifestations of democratic backsliding that is escalating in all forms and scope and the decision of the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to withdraw from the ECOWAS bloc and the submission of a one-year formal notice of their withdrawal to the Commission, citing ECOWAS’s deviation from the ideals of its founding fathers and Pan-Africanism after nearly 50 years of existence.”

They lamented that the withdrawal of these states will threatens the continuation of several significant interventions, projects and programmes, including the Regional Food Security Reserve, which hosts stocks for about 52% of the regional stock; the Regional Support Programme for Pastoralism in the Sahel, financed by the World Bank to the tune of USD215 million for the three states; the Sahel Regional Irrigation Support Programme, financed by the World Bank, to the tune of USD103.43 million for the three states; the Regional Food System Resilience Support Program, funded by the World Bank, to the tune of USD230 million for the three states.

Other things to be adversely impacted include the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Market project, which links all member states to a regional electricity grid for improved access to electricity; the withdrawal could result in the halt or suspension of ECOWAS projects and programmes worth over US$500 million; Logistical hurdles for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and its potential to weaken the long-term goal of establishing a single currency for all ECOWAS members; and a decline in foreign direct investment, negatively impacts on the private sector and women in the informal sector of the economy. .