e Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs of the United Nations, Mr. Adedeji Ebo, has paid an official visit to the ECOWAS headquarters in Abuja, signaling a renewed push for regional security cooperation.
The visit aimed to strengthen collaboration between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), particularly through its regional arm, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC).
High-level discussions centered on updating the 2009 ECOWAS–UNODA Memorandum of Understanding to address pressing contemporary security challenges, including arms trafficking, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), autonomous weapons, and risks linked to emerging technologies.
As part of the engagement, ECOWAS and UNODA jointly hosted a regional workshop on gender mainstreaming in small arms control, reinforcing the importance of inclusive approaches to peace and security.
Both institutions reaffirmed their commitment to fully implementing the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, pledging to revise the framework to better reflect today’s realities. They also emphasized integrating disarmament into broader peacebuilding and sustainable development strategies across West Africa.
[09/08, 9:45 pm] rosewendy: ECOWAS, UNODA Partner to Combat Arms Trafficking, IEDs, Emerging Security Threats in West Africa
