Cotonou, Benin hosts WANEP – ECOWAS Biannual Coordination Meeting

As part of its effort to improve on the ECOWAS Early Warning System – ECOWARN, Cotonou hosted the first of its biannual coordination meeting, bringing together Focal Points, Zonal Coordinators, regional staff of implementing partner WANEP, Government Focal Points and staff of the Early Warning Directorate (EWD).

The meeting provided opportunity for the stakeholders in ECOWARN to learn from the challenges from the field and improve on the system as well as the skills and technical know-how of the field monitors in order to improve the regional early warning system, ECOWARN. In addition, the Coordination Meeting provided the opportunity to meet the new field monitors from Government and CSOs and share experiences aimed at making the system more responsive to the communities and institutions it is meant to serve.

In his opening remarks on behalf of the Executive Director of WANEP, Mr. Chukwuemeka Eze – Program Director, acknowledged that the collective effort of civil society and state actors towards monitoring, analysing and reporting of indicators for conflict and peace would always provide the much needed information for policy makers and civil society to act in a timely manner to promote peace and stability in the sub region. He reflected on the reality of conflict and complex emergencies; the nexus between peace, development and security as key and should be accompanied by an acknowledgement of the need for promoting systemic peacebuilding and conflict-sensitive development through early warning and early response.

Click on this link for the full address of the Program Director of WANEP