FBA and ECOWAS

ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States) was founded in 1975 to increase economic cooperation among its member states, improve living standards, and promote economic development in the region. ECOWAS also works on peace-promoting efforts and increased security, including through peacekeeping forces.

Since its establishment, ECOWAS has also developed into an actor that can provide support to its member states in the areas of domestic politics, peace, and security. ECOWAS was previously regarded as a successful model for regional cooperation in Africa.

In recent years, the organisation has faced major challenges in demonstrating its added value to member states and their populations. At the same time, regional cooperation is more important than ever in addressing conflicts and security challenges that extend across national borders.

The ECOWAS secretariat is located in Abuja, Nigeria.

What we do

Since 2017, FBA has supported ECOWAS in making its peace and security work more gender-equal. This is done by promoting efforts that are better adapted to and reach men and women, boys and girls alike. This has, for example, involved support for the development of gender equality guidelines that are now being implemented in operational work.

FBA has also trained the organisation’s peacekeeping forces on how to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence.

FBA works to strengthen ECOWAS’s capacity in dialogue and mediation.

The aim of this support is for ECOWAS to become better at preventing, managing, and resolving conflicts in the region through dialogue and mediation. Previously, the FBA has provided training on how to effectively prevent violence in connection with elections.

Currently, cooperation is underway to strengthen the ECOWAS Parliament’s approach so that its mediation efforts produce better and more sustainable results.