ECOWAS Gender, women ministers meet in Accra on EGDC Strategic Plan

Under the theme: “Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls: An Im-perative for the Achievement of Sustainable Development and Effective Regional Inte-gration in West Africa”, the Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027 of the ECOWAS Gender Develop-ment Centre (EGDC) is set to be submitted to the Ministers responsible for Gender and Women Affairs of ECOWAS Member States for adoption. This will be done during a Ministerial Meeting scheduled to take place on Thursday, 30th March 2023 in Accra, Republic of Ghana.

The meeting will be officially opened by Honourable Hajia Lariba Abudu, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection of the Republic of Ghana and Professor Fatou Sow SARR, Com-missioner for Human Development and Social Affairs of the ECOWAS Commission.

During the meeting, the Honourable Ministers responsible for Gender and Women Affairs would review and adopt the Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027 document, which had previously been consid-ered and validated by the Meeting of Experts and Representatives of civil society organisations working on gender and development from ECOWAS member States, held in Accra, Ghana, from 27th to 29th March 2023.

The EGDC Strategic Plan seeks to promote gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, the acceleration of economic and social development, and regional integration in West Africa. It was developed with the view to reposition the EGDC as a Centre of Excellence with the required capacity to contribute to the transformation of West Africa into a just and secure com-munity in which men and women have equal opportunities to participate, decide, control and benefit from all development initiatives, within the framework of ECOWAS Vision 2050, which aims at creating “a fully integrated community of peoples in a peaceful and prosperous region, with strong institutions and respect for fundamental freedoms, and working towards inclusive and sustainable development”. It is based on the five main pillars that support the priorities of ECOWAS Vision 2050.