ECOWAS Defence Commission meets on regional security

Accra, Feb. 26, GNA - Chiefs of Defence Staff of ECOWAS Member States will hold a two-day meeting in Abuja, Nigeria from Thursday 26, February to consider various issues related to the security of the region, a release faxed to the GNA late Wednesday said.

The release, signed by Dr Adrienne Diop, Director of Communications at the ECOWAS Secretariat said Thursday's meeting would be the eighth by the Commission.

The meeting would be briefed on the security situation in the region by the force Commanders of ECOMICI, the regional force in Cote d'Ivoire, as well as UNMIL and UNAMSIL, the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia and Sierra Leone respectively.

The meeting will approve the work programme for the Commission, an organ of the Mediation and Security Council with responsibility for examining technical and administrative issue. It would also assess the logistic requirements for peacekeeping operations.

During its quarterly meetings, the Commission also reviews when necessary, the reports of the ECOWAS Observation and Monitoring Centres and makes recommendations to the Council.

The Protocol on the mechanism for Conflict resolution, Management, Peacekeeping and Security provided for the establishment of four Observation and Monitoring Centres.

The centres that are located in Banjul, Cotonou, Monrovia and Ouagadougou, collect data and indicators that impact on peace and security in countries under each zone.

Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, the ECOWAS Deputy Executive Secretary for Political Affairs, Defence and Security, as well as the Chairman of the Commission, Lt. Gen. S.K. Obeng, Chief of Defence of Ghana, would address the meeting in Abuja.