AU - ECOWAS Commission workshop on African Union's Silencing the Guns agenda

24/03/2021

Activity description

On 24 March 2021, the ECOWAS Commission held a one-day workshop on the modalities for implementing the Silencing the Guns agenda in West Africa, a flagship programme of the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063. The workshop was organized through the ECOWAS Directorate of Political Affairs in collaboration with the African Union Commission’s Silencing the Guns Unit. The objective of the workshop was to further discussions on an ECOWAS strategy and approach to the regionalisation of the Silencing the Guns Agenda in West Africa and in coordination and alignment with the African Union. The workshop was supported by the GIZ ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) Project.

Project description

The ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) Project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ GmbH). The overall goal of this Project is “to prevent and manage conflicts and security threats in West Africa” and the specific objectives are to: 1) Strengthen ECOWAS’s mechanisms to promote and maintain peace and stability and post crisis operations; 2) Enable ECOWAS to manage erupting or existing conflicts. 3) Contribute to the creation of a secure and safe post conflict environment. The four–year project, co-funded by the European Union, under the Regional Indicative Programme/11th European Development Fund (RIP/11th EDF) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with a total budget of 20.400.000 euros, closely works with the ECOWAS Commission, Member States, and civil society groups to enhance regional capacities and responses in the fields of mediation, peace support operations and security sector reform.

Type of Activity