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The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission and theUnited Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) are working together to promote gender mainstreaming and improve the living conditions of women in the region.

To this end, both parties are reviewing their existing MoU with a view to making it more inclusive and adaptable to current realities, as global, continental and regional organizations seek to create a more gender-balanced and peaceful world.

On October 23, 2019 in Abuja, Nigeria, Her Excellency Asa Regner, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of UN Women, and Her Excellency Finda Koroma, Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, emphasized the importance of global collaboration to give women the desired voice.

Vice-President Koroma highlighted critical areas where action is being taken to empower women, including education and skills training, employment provision, digital finance and girls' education.

As well as expressing optimism about the reaffirmation of commitment to the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Mrs Koroma said that the Commission was looking forward to the UN Women's agenda on UN Resolution 1325, so that ECOWAS could complement and reinforce it with desirable joint activities, since three of the five G5-Sahel countries are in West Africa.

Giving more information on the focus of the technical session with Ms Regner's delegation, the ECOWAS Commission Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender, Ms Siga Jagne, confirmed the importance of all stakeholders joining in with programs to promote gender balance.

She stressed the need to set up a regional gender equality institution to serve as a reference center, while activating a gender equality scoreboard aimed at bringing all countries in the region up to the same level.

In her address, Ms Regner revealed that her organization's two-pronged approach is capable of energizing the concept of gender equality in the ramifications identified, despite the slow pace of measurable impact.

She maintained that the meeting with regional bodies is very important, as UN Women is looking forward to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration. She called for greater collaboration with ECOWAS on this issue.

Alongside the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), UN Resolution 1325 on Women - Peace and Security deals, among other things, with the promotion and protection of women in armed conflict and their participation in decision-making on peace and security.

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