81318825 EPSG Expert Pool

Political transitions, governance changes, insurgencies, and violent extremism continue to reshape West Africa"s peace and security landscape. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) plays a critical role in coordinating regional responses to security challenges through its strategic frameworks for peace and development. These include conflict prevention and governance, alongside regional strategies addressing climate adaptation, resilience, and economic integration. Strengthening coordination, fostering inclusive engagement - including with civil society - and promoting adaptive and preventive approaches are cross-cutting themes.

The European Union (EU) and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)- co-financed Support to ECOWAS in Peace, Security and Governance (EPSG) project provides technical and financial support to ECOWAS for the strengthening of regional peace, security, and democratic governance. Service provision is ensured by regular joint planning processes with the partner. At the same time, the project is required to react flexibly to the political context.

The project is active in five components:

a. Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management EPSG enhances ECOWAS' ability to detect and respond to conflicts by strengthening National Centres for Coordination of Response Mechanisms (NCCRMs) and other National Peace Infrastructures (NPIs). It also supports the ECOWAS Early Warning Directorate (EWD) in improving data collection, analysis, and reporting within the ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN) system. The project reinforces ECOWAS' capacity to initiate timely interventions through the Early Response Mechanism (ERM).

b. Security Sector Reform, Governance and Human Rights To strengthen accountable and citizen-focused security institutions, EPSG supports security sector reform through: Training and advisory services for security actors, parliamentary committees, and civil society organizations; strengthening democratic oversight to improve governance and transparency; and promoting human rights, addressing gender-based violence, and increasing the representation of women in security roles.

c. Electoral Support and Democratic Transitions Amid political transitions and the risk of election-related violence, EPSG supports ECOWAS member states to conduct peaceful and credible elections by: Supporting Election Management Bodies (EMBs) to address gaps from past elections and facilitating training and peer-learning initiatives coordinated by the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Division (EAD) and the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC); implementing recommendations from ECOWAS election observation missions; engaging civil society and the media to counter disinformation and prevent electoral violence; and supporting transition of member states back to a constitutional order.

d. Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) Agendas Recognizing the crucial role of women and youth in peacebuilding, EPSG supports the implementation of ECOWAS" WPS and YPS agendas. EPSG: Supports women and youth networks like the Network on Peace and Security for Women in West Africa (NOPSWECO) to enhance their involvement in peace processes; provides training and advocacy to increase women and youth participation in governance and conflict mediation.

e. Strengthening cooperation of the regional training infrastructure in the implementation of the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture Funded by BMZ, this component enhances capacities of and cooperation between regional training centres of excellence such as the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and the National Defense College (NDC) and the ECOWAS Commission, in particular with respect to Peace Support Operations (PSOs). Support is focused on: Developing and implementing trainings, dialogues and research; policy development; strengthening (digital) capacities of training centres.