ECOWAS strengthens member States commitments to developing human resource

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 29 July 2024:

A delegation from the ECOWAS Human Capital Development (HCD) Secretariat, led by Program Coordinator M. Ruben Johnson, has conducted an information and consultation tour of five countries across the region – Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Liberia, Benin, and The Gambia.

During this tour, the HCD team held meetings with the relevant authorities responsible for coordinating HCD activities and conducted intensive working sessions with the HCD focal points of each country.

These field visits aimed to share findings from the computation of the 2024 ECOWAS HCD Index and to assess the status of the implementation of national HCD strategies.

The HCD secretariat also advocated for the establishment of national HCD delivery units for the effective implementation of HCD initiatives and programs.

During these meetings, the team presented the results of data collected for the development of the ECOWAS HCD 2024 Index and Report, scheduled for publication in August 2024. Member States focal points provided additional insights on political, social and economic factors that influenced the landscape during the reporting period.

The index assesses Member States progress in the thematic areas outlined in the ECOWAS HCD strategy and gender parity: Health and Nutrition; Education, Skills and Labor participation; Entrepreneurship, Financial inclusion and Digital Economy, with the goal of the region becoming the leading regional economic communication in Africa by 2030.

Member states reaffirmed their commitment to prioritizing human capital development. Countries that did not yet have a national strategy recognized its importance and committed to accelerating the finalization of their strategies as well as establishing national “Delivery Units” dedicated to HCD.

ECOWAS reaffirmed its commitment to pursue its advocacy, communication, and resource mobilization efforts to support Member States to achieve the objectives of the Regional Strategy.

The momentum built at the Technical Conference on Human Capital Development, held on May 8-9, 2024, in Accra, is still going strong. This is crucial as ECOWAS  moves into the implementation phase of the regional HCD Strategy, emphasizing the need to engage all Member States in prioritizing human capital development within their national development agendas.