Ghana: ECOWAS Invests in Human Rights 1

A two day meeting was therefore organised in Accra, Ghana by ECOWAS to sensitize civil society organisations CSOs at the Coconut Groove Hotel, June 2- 3 2015. The conveners were the ECOWAS Political Affairs Department and that of Democracy and Good Governance and the CSO partner and co-organiser was the Accra based West African Network […]

A two day meeting was therefore organised in Accra, Ghana by ECOWAS to sensitize civil society organisations CSOs at the Coconut Groove Hotel, June 2- 3 2015. The conveners were the ECOWAS Political Affairs Department and that of Democracy and Good Governance and the CSO partner and co-organiser was the Accra based West African Network for Peace WANEP. The participants were civil society activists drawn from all West African countries mainly members of the Network of National Human Rights Institutions The representatives of these organisations delivered their welcome and goodwill messages to the participants. The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr. Remi Ajibewa, the Director Political Affairs at ECOWAS who made opening remarks highlighting the importance of the meeting and the vision of a West Africa region that makes human rights a priority with active CSOs that monitor and report on the issue in their various countries. He observed that ECOWAS Commission on its part continue to play a key role in supporting both CSOs and National Human Rights Commission to promote respect for the fundamental human rights of ordinary community citizens across the fifteen Member States in the region.
Mr Eyesan Okorodudu, the Head of the Democracy and Good Governance at ECOWAS coordinated participants’ introduction and informed them that the meeting was convened by the ECOWAS Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Rule of Law..  He added that as co organizer of the meeting, WANEP will also support CSOs to produce a yearly CSOs report on human rights which will conform with the new ECOWAS Human Rights Reporting Framework. He observed that CSOs, in modern democracy, act as a key sector of the society that plays an increasingly important role for promoting good governance attributes of transparency, accountability, rule of law and the respect for human rights., CSOs that specialize in monitoring the respect for human rights and rule of law are encouraged and supported in their work by donors and other well-meaning partners. He delivered the good will for a fruitful meeting from the ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Security and Peace Mrs. Salamatu Hussein Suleiman, a stakeholder in the human rights sector giving its linkage to human security.
There were good will messages from Dr Issac Anan, the Deputy Director of human rights at CHARAJ, Dr Emeka Eze, the Executive Director of WANEP and the Executive Secretary of the Network of National Human Rights Institutions NNHI Secretariat.
They commended ECOWAS for organizing the meeting which had critical objectives that if achieved would change the face of human rights enforcement in West Africa. The objectives were: To promote  adherence to regional reporting standards on human rights situations in Member States; support CSOs participation in the monitoring and evaluation of Human Rights and  Rule of Law situations in Member states and ensure  the continued implementation of the NNHRI Work Plan. Others included strengthening NNHRI working relationship with its Institutional Members and promoting peer learning and shared values in the promotion and protection of Human Rights; strengthen the Regional Human Rights Architecture, expand and strengthen human rights accountability.
Participants were particularly happy that the meeting provided a forum for the Annual General Assembly to evaluate and review the activities of the NNHRI Secretariat since the last meeting of 2014 and make recommendations on the state of Human Rights Report presented to it by the Executive Secretary of the NNHRI Secretariat.
After the opening ceremony, the meeting moved into the technical sessions an as an expert invited to the meeting I presented my paper titled The Imperative of Using   the ECOWAS Human Rights Framework. The paper  discussed the main pillars of the ECOWAS Human Rights Framework developed from its relevant Protocols. They include the institutional framework and their domestication. Among them are: Accountability on Specific Rights, Protection of Citizen’s Rights, Law Enforcement, -Children’s Rights, Women’s Rights, Security Agencies, Protection from Torture and Detention, The paper underscored the fact that the ECOWAS Human Rights Framework is a comprehensive document that provides a user friendly method for understanding the Human rights context in West Africa. It reviews the various protocols from which the frame work draws it pillars and identifies the necessary steps for achieving human rights for citizens. The document also  provides a benchmark for evaluating and measuring achievements and identifies challenges faced by member countries as they implement the protocol. It charts the way forward.
The second paper was on Proposals and Methodologies for the CSO report based on the ECOWAS Human Rights Reporting Framework. It was presented by Mr Arboncana Oumarou, the Clerk and Secretary to ECOWAS Parliament on Human Rights and Child Protection Committee  and Jide Adesina a CSO expert.  The paper noted it was important to get the reporting format right because is  aimed at the operationalization of the obligations assumed by Member States under Art. 57 (o) of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) which provides that: “ Civil Society Organizations shall actively participate in the adoption, implementation and evaluation of human rights policies and practices in Member States”.
The third presentation was on the Role of the Media in Promoting Awaeness on the new ECOWAS reporting framework which was presented by Mr Sulaiman Braimah, the Executive Director Media Foundation of West Africa and Ms Noviekou Da-do Nora of WANEP Togo.