The IFRC and the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) signalled a new era of cooperation with the signing of a formal memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Abuja on March 11. The MOU aims to strengthen joint work in a number areas of mutual interest, in particular disaster preparedness and response, disaster risk reduction, and capacity building in disaster management.
Among the specific joint activities envisaged for the future is “promot[ing] International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) to support early action in disaster.” “Reducing legal barriers to cross-border for early disaster assistance is a key issue in this region,” noted IFRC Disaster Management Coordinator Youcef Ait-Chellouche. “We are hopeful that this new agreement can help us to work together on solutions.”
ECOWAS is a regional group of sixteen West African countries, founded in 1975. Member States are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
ECOWAS’ role in fostering disaster cooperation is set out in article 29 of its constitution and the issue has captured increasing attention from its members in recent years. This has led to the creation of a disaster management unit in the secretariat and plans to create deployable emergency response teams for mutual assistance between member states.