Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament has called for the activation of the ECOWAS Standby Force amid growing insecurity in the region.
The recommendation was made by the Parliament’s Joint Committee on Political Affairs and the APRM, alongside Committees on Legal Affairs, Trade and Social Development, at a meeting in The Gambia.
The sitting also proposed enhanced intelligence-sharing through regional centres and a security cooperation framework with the withdrawing states, particularly to address terrorism threats in coastal regions.
The meeting reviewed the political, economic, social and humanitarian impacts of the withdrawal of the Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from the West African bloc.
The Parliament urged member states and the ECOWAS Commission to pursue diplomatic engagement with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, including bilateral talks, using sub-regional bodies such as OMVS and Conseil de l’Entente.
To maintain channels of engagement, the parliament proposed establishing an inter-parliamentary dialogue platform and involvement of non-state actors in mediation and outreach missions.
On operational reforms, the parliament advised the ECOWAS Commission to initiate bilateral agreements with the withdrawing states, particularly on free movement, trade facilitation, digital car insurance systems and border monitoring.
The Parliament also called for the revision of immigration protocols and a region-wide public education campaign on citizens’ rights and mobility under the evolving political landscape.
MEANWHILE, a member of the Nigerian delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, Zainab Gimba, in a motion of urgent importance moved for the intervention of the ECOWAS in the security of citizens of the community, on Thursday, during the ongoing First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, called for an urgent resolution to be passed by the parliament to endorse the dialogue that has been opened with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
She said the dialogue would reintegrate the states into the ECOWAS security frameworks to support a collaborative security effort for the acceleration and full operationalisation of the Accra Initiative and the ECOWAS Standby Force, in line with its 2020-2024 action plan to combat terrorism in West Africa and the Sahel.
The lawmaker also called for a resolution to be passed to urge ECOWAS member states to commit to improved funding of the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad basin, and the deployment of rapid-response forces to high-risk zones across the Sahel and coastal West Africa, in a bid to counter the threat of terrorism and insurgency into new territories.
Gimba also urged the parliament to strengthen the ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN) to anticipate, track and disrupt arms trafficking routes and insurgent migration patterns and preempt threats for early mitigation.
