Bamako holds national consultations on the development of ECOWAS 2020 vision
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian Ministry of African Integration, in collaboration with the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), held a two-day (January 21 to 22) national consultations on the development of the ECOWAS post 2020 vision.
PANA learned on Thursday from the Malian ministry of African integration that the consultations were held in Bamako, the Malian capital.
The consultations took place before the expiration of Vision 2020 and the imminent entry into force of the post-Vision 2020 of the sub-regional organization which collects the opinions, expectations, suggestions and proposals of its populations, official sources told PANA.
During the workshop, to be held in the 15 ECOWAS member countries, each national office must ensure that the ECOWAS Post 2020 Vision Plan will reflect the needs and aspirations of the people of West Africa.
Specifically, it is to encourage citizens to debate their perspectives on themes such as the achievements of ECOWAS during the implementation of Vision 2020, the new development challenges, as well as the different aspirations to long term of the "West Africa" region in the next 50 years.
PANA recalls that in June 2007, the ECOWAS member states adopted a long-term vision for 2020, through which the 15 countries of the sub-regional organization agreed on the creation of a borderless, peaceful region, prosperous and coherent, based on good governance, where people can access its enormous resources, exploit them by creating opportunities for sustainable development and preservation of the environment.
It revolves around five main pillars: the exploitation of regional resources through human development and its empowerment, peace and security which aim to rid the region of its multiple recurring conflicts, governance with a view to achieving 2020 vision objectives and economic and monetary integration characterized by an integrated and unique regional market, supported by a common currency and the development of the private sector.
According to the Malian Minister for African Integration, Baber Gano, Vision 2020 and Strategic Framework 2020 expire at the end of December 2020.
"It is in this perspective that in December 2018, the ECOWAS Council of Ministers adopted the sheet Vision 2020 assessment roadmap," Gano said, adding that the roadmap included the organization of national consultations in all member countries.
For his part, the representative of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Boly Hamidou, recalled the achievements of the ECOWAS Commission in the fields of health, road infrastructure, education and security, while noting that the new decade which begins, the monetary union and the security will be the major subjects which will carry ECOWAS.
ECOWAS members States are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.
-0- PANA GT/IS/KND/VAO 23Jan2020
