West Africa Civil Society conference ends in Accra

The First Annual West Africa Civil Society Conference, has ended with the call on national governments to pursue negotiations that primarily shape the regional and global development agenda.

The two-day conference was to contribute to the regional development agenda from the civil society perspective.

It was also to discuss the strategies civil society could use to effectively engage with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the vision 2020 through the West Africa Civil Society Forum.

Nana Asantewa Afadzinu, Executive Director, West Africa Civil Society Institute, reading the Communiqué on behalf of participants said national governments should negotiate with each other in order to mobilise adequate financial and other resources to facilitate the implementation of the Post-2015 agenda

She said governments should also allocate resources to civil society to support their roles in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level.

“They should create spaces for civil society to be represented on national delegations that participate in global and other negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda,” she said.

On ECOWAS vision 2020, she said civil society organisations should engage ECOWAS on the following areas including human development, democratic governance, peace and security, youth development and natural resource management.

Nana Afadzinu said ECOWAS should educate and sensitise member states on the various aspects of Vision 2020, harmonise the vision with the post-2015 development agenda to optimise synergies in implementation.

The Executive Director said ECOWAS should also redefine and strengthen its relationship with West Africa Civil Society Forum as the recognised regional civil society platform for interface between citizens and ECOWAS commission.

The conference also recommended that stakeholders including development partners and private sector should support the forum with requisite capacity needed to function and effectively manage its institutional, operational and sustainability structures.