ECOWAS Commission Reviews Action Plan For Integrated Maritime Strategy

The Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) commission has reviewed the draft Action Plan of the ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy(EIMS) in order to achieve the objectives of the platform.

The review took place at an interdepartmental meeting which took place between 20th to 22nd of March 2024 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and it brought together different ECOWAS departments; representatives of ECOWAS Regional Fisheries Centers, ECOWAS institutions and agencies and West African Fisheries Commissions.

EIMS is a legal instrument that provides a comprehensive reference framework for actions to be taken by the various stakeholders at national and regional levels.

The general objective of the meeting was to make sure that the technical departments adopts the SMIC Action Plan in order to ensure integrated and coordinated implementation in line with the mission of the ECOWAS Commission.

The specific objective, according to the organisers of the meeting, was to ensure that the priorities and actions set out in the Action Plan are in line with the 4X4 goals of the commission’s management of sectoral policies, such as; food and nutrition security, marine biodiversity, blue economy, among others.

Three speeches were delivered at the opening ceremony and were delivered by the director of CRESMAO, Commodore Richard Maru Shammah; Country Director – Côte d’Ivoire UNODC, Mr. Cheikh Toure and resident Representative of ECOWAS in Côte d’Ivoire, Mrs. Fanta Cisse.

In his speech, Commodore Richard Maru Shammah acknowledged the presence of experts at the meeting and recalled the multilateral aspect of the challenges related to the maritime sector, hence, the need for a good adoption of the Action Plan as well as a good implementation on the part of the ECOWAS commission.

On his part, Mr. Cheikh Toure noted that, some of the ECOWAS initiatives implemented in West Africa with the support of UNODC are in line with the ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy.

These, he said, include the EU-funded ECOWAS SWAIMS project, while commending the commission for its efforts to strengthen maritime safety and security as well as underscored the need for States to address specific challenges to combat maritime pollution and illegal exploitation of West African maritime zones.

He equally stressed the need for ECOWAS Member States to work together to ensure peace and stability in the region.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Fanta Cisse welcomed all the participants to Côte d’Ivoire before pointing out that the multidisciplinary nature of the maritime sector was of concern to all the stakeholders present at the meeting. She then concluded by saying: “This strategy, which is the Community’s framework document for a response to the proper management and exploitation of the maritime domain, is based on inter-agency cooperation at national and regional levels. Its management must include, inter alia, political decisions, legal issues, regional security and defense, security forces, maritime and port administration.”

This Interdepartmental meeting on the review of the draft action plan of the EIMS was organised with the support of the ECOWAS-SWAIMS project and ECOWAS partners including the European Union and UNODC.