Dakar, 27 September 2017 (ECA) – The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), through its Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, is today hosting the Annual Meeting of the Sub-Regional Coordination Mechanism (SRCM) together with other UN agencies and Regional Economic Communities.
The meeting is focusing on the coordination of their support to their respective communities, in particular Member States.
The meeting will insist on using the SRCM as a tool to coordinate joint actions of UN Sub-Regional bodies to support regional activities in West Africa. As a result, emphasis will be laid on joint-project collaboration.
“At a time when our system is embarking on intense brainstorming to improve its overall efficiency, the Sub-Regional Coordination Mechanism must regain strength to optimize resources used in order to support regional integration in its various facets. This goal shall only be attained if Regional Offices of agencies under the UN System work together. That is to say, by complementing the actions of the United Nations Development Group,” says Mr. Dimitri Sanga, Director of the ECA Sub-Regional Office for West Africa.
The meeting is being held under the theme: “Mobilizing Efforts to Boost Coordination to Promote Regional Integration in Africa” and therefore favours a broader synergy between the agencies and greater efficiency in actions by implementing, as much as possible, joint or common programmes or projects, in support of existing intergovernmental organisations in West Africa.
The UN agencies hope by the end of the meeting to improve on the relevance and effectiveness of their support actions and to have come up with strategies to strengthen cooperation at the Sub-Regional level through better alignment with regional priorities.
This will be achieved by consolidating consultations, coordination and the promotion of joint or common initiatives in support of regional programmes.
UN agencies attending the meeting, include the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWAS), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Regional Economic Communities such as ECOWAS, WAEMU and the Mano River Union.
For more information, contact:
Tahirou Gouro, Communication Officer, ECA-SRO/WA,
Mob.: +227 90 99 99 39, Email: gouro2@un.org