ECOWAS To Strengthen Collaboration With US On Risk Management

ECOWAS To Strengthen Collaboration With US On Risk Management

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it is strengthening its collaboration with the United States over risk management in the region through the establishment of the Early Warning Systems.

President of the ECOWAS Commission Mr Jean Claude Kassi Brou said this on Saturday after a meeting with the Assistant Secretary of States for African Affairs for the US, Mr Tibor Nagy.

According to him, the US has collaborated with the region to establish early warning systems and centres in five of the fifteen-member commission.

The commission is, however, looking to take the partnership further towards establishing the system as well as centres in the remaining member countries.

He believes the system will help the region in all its human endeavours such as trade, health, agriculture and risk factors such as terrorism and herders/farmers conflicts.

“We used this opportunity to discuss one project that the US is really supporting ECOWAS on. It is the Early Warning System.

“With the financial, technical support of the US government, we were able to open in five countries and now we have discussed the possibility to increase because the idea is really to allow all the 15-member countries have this mechanism because it is a system that will help support, protect and manage all the risk of human activity.

“Whether it is security, health, and all other activities that can generate risk and affect the people of ECOWAS, it will be managed by this early warning mechanism,” Kassi Brou said.