ECOWAS launches consultations to accelerate protocol of free movement of people in community area
Ziguinchor, Senegal (PANA) - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Wednesday launched national consultations here to ensure a better sub-regional integration.
The event was meant to collate the opinions of member- countries towards the implementation of the post-2020 vision of the institution.
Ziguinchor was chosen because it is a crossroad region where nationals from several member-countries of the organisation transit due to its proximity with The Gambia and the two Guineas, that is Guinea Conakry and Guinea Bissau.
The meeting enabled authorities, development actors and citizens to be sensitized on the mechanisms for free movement inside the ECOWAS sub-region.
Ambassador Jean Antoine Diouf, Africa and African Union director, and member of the ECOWAS national board at the Senegalese ministry of foreign affairs and Senegalese living abroad, said: “It is a utopia to think we can eradicate definitively the nuisances and other difficulties in the community area for populations who move there”, adding that even in Europe, the phenomenon persisted so far despite the significant efforts made.
“The nuisances and constraints will exist and they exist even in Europe. But, I think by dint of sensitization among populations and the modernization of equipment and infrastructure, for example railways, I think this will contribute to facilitate the movements but also reduce further the different constraints and blockades in our sub-region,” he said.
He indicated that there were already significant progress inside the ECOWAS community area in terms of movement of people and goods when compared with other African regions where there was not even an agreement protocol for the free-movement of people and goods.
“To appreciate the progress made, in my opinion, we must analyze the situation in other parts of Africa where there is not yet a protocol on the free movement of people. This is just to show you that challenges do exist, but let’s insist more on the achievements and progress,” he said.
In that respect, he said the organization recently adopted, for example, the biometric ID card, a travel document that allows for a better movement of people.
“In my opinion, we have now to turn to populations, to consult them, to have their opinions and observations and to accompany them for a better integration of our continent,” he added.
“The staff at borders, we naturally have to strengthen their capacities and actually, within the framework of its activities, the ECOWAS national board carries out activities to sensitize, promote and train actors, the defence and security forces as we call them commonly. “We have a protocol on the free movement of people and goods, we have to see how to bring them to appropriate it, to make arrangements so that those dispositions are fully implemented to meet the aspirations of populations, to help them better integrate themselves. Therefore, training is very important in that sense and we are working hard on it. And precisely, within the framework of those consultations, we are considering integrating the defence and security forces so that they can discuss with populations for their concerns to be taken into consideration successfully,” he said.
-0- PANA MAD/TBM/MSA/RA 14Feb2020
