MONROVIA – Dr. Ibrahim Al-Bakri Nyei, Liberia’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister for Regional Integration, has called on the ECOWAS National Technical Committee to identify quick-win and tangible projects that will positively impact the lives of community citizens through the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Support Program (ECBCSP).
The launch of the National Platform for the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Support Program took place on Monday, April 29, 2024, at the ECOWAS Liberia Country Office in Monrovia. The program aims to facilitate free movement and migration within countries of the Mano River Union, with a focus on strengthening cross-border cooperation, joint development planning, and actions, as well as promoting peace, stability, and development.
According to Nyei, the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation program will play a vital role in linking social, economic, and cultural relations between citizens, especially between Liberia and Sierra Leone. He highlighted that President Boakai’s ARREST Agenda is in line with the program, fostering peace and promoting the initiative of cross-border populations in stability and development.
Josephine Nkrumah, the ECOWAS Resident Representative to Liberia, commended the Government of Liberia for establishing a Technical Committee to address migration and development issues at the national level. She emphasized the importance of the National Platform for the ECBCSP, noting that it is a multi-sectoral development program that will work with border communities, national and local authorities, and civil society to ensure social cohesion, regional construction, and sustainable development.
The ECBCSP intervention will focus on peace and security, migration, free movement, trade, and south-south decentralized cooperation in various areas of development. The program’s target beneficiaries include ECOWAS Member States, Border Management Agencies, Local Authorities, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations, Women and Youth Groups, and Media networks.
The implementation of the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Program is based on the provisions of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, the Protocols on Free Movement of Persons, Goods, and Services, the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF), and the ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration, among others.
The launch was attended by officials from the ECOWAS National Office, the ECOWAS Resident Representative to Liberia, the National Platform Committee, and team members from the ECOWAS National Office.
