FAAR Work-in-Progress Seminar: Appraising ECOWAS Vision 2020: From ECOWAS of States to ECOWAS of People
Work-in-Progress Seminar
The Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research (FAAR) at KAIPTC held an internal ‘Work-In-Progress Seminar’
Topic: “Appraising ECOWAS Vision 2020: From ECOWAS of States to ECOWAS of People”
Presenter: Mr. Devante Duncan is an Administrative Assistant at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC)
Chair: Ms Shiela Naade Tetteh
Venue: Conference Room 1
Date: Wednesday, 04th November 2020
Time: 1000hrs
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has made significant strides in various areas of regional resource development, governance, economic and monetary integration, peace and security. The bloc established in 1975 to facilitate economic cooperation and regional integration in West Africa, adopted a resolution to accelerate sustainable development in the region, birthing the ECOWAS Vision 2020 in June 2007. The resolution lays out goals ECOWAS sought to achieve in the region from 2007 to the end of this particular year. Although the regional bloc has made advancements in the realisation of some goals such as the establishment of the regional peace and security architecture and ECOWAS Common Trade Policy Strategy, ECOWAS has equally been confronted with challenges that have hindered the bloc from achieving these said objectives. With the year 2020 in its final months, the question that persists is ‘was the ECOWAS Vision 2020 successful in its quest to transform the region from an ECOWAS of States to an ECOWAS of people?’ This paper seeks to assess the ECOWAS Vision 2020, measuring its effectiveness on delivering a peaceful, prosperous, borderless and cohesive region, built on good governance, comparing the current situation in the region to the proposed vision by the bloc.