ECOWAS experts are harmonizing regional policies on youth, sports, and volunteerism through group work
As part of the regional workshop on the consolidation, validation, and adoption of regional policies on Youth, Sports, and Volunteering, experts from ECOWAS member states continued their work in Dakar through technical group sessions dedicated to an in-depth review of the draft policies and their strategic action plans.
Organized into four working groups based on the Community’s official languages, the participants conducted a detailed analysis of the documents to ensure their consistency, relevance, and alignment with national priorities and the ambitions of ECOWAS Vision 2050.
During the discussions, the experts offered observations and recommendations focusing, in particular, on strengthening sectoral governance, improving regional coordination mechanisms, promoting the inclusion of youth, women, and people with disabilities, developing sports as a lever for regional integration, and strengthening volunteerism as a tool for citizenship, peace, and development.
The discussions also helped consolidate the strategic action plans by identifying measurable objectives, appropriate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and methods for mobilizing the resources necessary for their implementation.
Following the group sessions, the rapporteurs presented the main conclusions in a plenary session. The proposals put forward were the subject of constructive exchanges among the delegations before being incorporated into the consolidated versions of the documents.
This participatory approach made it possible to reach a consensus on the strategic directions that will guide ECOWAS’s actions in support of youth, sports, and volunteerism over the next decade. The consolidated documents will be submitted for review and approval by the ministers responsible for youth and sports in the member states.
Through this consultative process, ECOWAS reaffirms its commitment to equipping the region with modern, inclusive policies tailored to current challenges, in order to strengthen regional integration, promote civic engagement among young people, and make sports and volunteerism true drivers of sustainable development and social cohesion in West Africa.
