The ECOWAS Parliament is expected to host a meeting of the joint committees on Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment, Education, Science and Culture as well as Health in Liberia from April 13-17, 2021.
The Liberian delegation will on tomorrow, Friday, April 9, receive a five-member advance delegation of the ECOWAS Parliament’s regional delegation followed by the Speaker of the Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis who will arrive with a 47-member delegation on Saturday, April 10.
The ECOWAS Parliament week-long meeting will take place under the theme, ‘Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS Region’ and key among issues to be discussed will be relevant regional integration matters in keeping with its Vision 2020 Agenda.
The head of the Liberian delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, Senator Edwin Snowe, describes the selection of Liberia at this time as another historic opportunity for the Parliament to interact directly with the people they represent.
With its critical role in contributing to the development processes of its member countries as well as addressing critical issues affecting the constituents; the ECOWAS Parliament three years ago launched its first parliamentary network focusing on gender equality in land, agricultural investment and food security thereby tasking its members to enforce gender-friendly and inclusive agriculture laws targeted at ending hunger in Africa by 2025.
The ECOWAS Parliament is committed to closing the gender gaps and enhancing women’s participation in development in the region; recognizing that is a key component for building a just society and achieving political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security among its members.
Meanwhile, the meeting which begins next Tuesday at the Ministerial Complex in Monrovia is also part of the adopted activity programs of the ECOWAS Parliament for 2021.
Speaker Tunis, a recipient of humanitarian and leadership awards in Sierra Leone, is the past immediate majority leader in the fifth parliament of the second Republic of Sierra Leone and a ranking member of his country’s delegation with a four-year mandate to the ECOWAS Parliament.
The ECOWAS Parliament, known as the Community Parliament is one of the institutions of ECOWAS comprised of peoples of the Community serving as a forum for dialogue, consultation and consensus for representatives of the people in the region.
This Parliament has 115 seats with each member state having a guaranteed minimum of five seat while the remaining 40 is shared on the basis of population and this is the fifth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament under the chairmanship of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo of the Republic of Ghana. President Addo chairs the Authority of ECOWAS Head of State and Government while the President of the ECOWAS Commission is Jean-Claude Brou.