Press release ECOWAS hold the 4th Steering committee meeting OCWAR-T

The ECOWAS Commission, the European Union and the German Federal Foreign Office (BMZ) held the 4th Steering Committee of the Project: Organized Crime-West Africa Response to Trafficking OCWAR-T on the 30th of May 2022. The objective of the meeting was to review the key milestones achieved to date in the project, discuss the sustainability of the initiatives and activities carried out by the project, as well as to approve the 2022 work plan and budget.

The meeting was Co-Chaired by the Mrs. Cécile Tassin-Pelzer, Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and the ECOWAS Commission was represented by Dr. Sinitki Tarfa Ugbe.

In her opening speech, Mrs. Tassin-Pelzer stated that the OCWAR-T project has been able to achieve a number of milestones so far and urges the participants at the meeting to make the most efficient use of the platform of the Steering Committee meeting to explore the different ways to make the OCWAR–T project a more strategic and impactful one.

Dr. Ugbe in her remarks noted two positive developments regarding the OCWAR- T project, namely, the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions that has enabled the ECOWAS Commission and the implementing partners to make progress with the implementation of activities, and the extension of the project which provides opportunity to build synergy and consolidate achievements at the member state level.

The Steering Committee adopted the reports of the status of implementation of the project, the proposal for no-cost extension and conceptual adjustments, and the costed workplan of the project for 2022 which were presented at the meeting. The Steering Committee recommended enhanced synergy between the small arms, human trafficking and the components of the criminal investigations and the legal framework related to trans-national organised crime.

OCWAR-T is an ECOWAS project, commissioned by the German Government and co-funded by the EU. GIZ jointly implements OCWAR-T with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mines Advisory Group (MAG), the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Global Initiative Against Organised Crime (GITOC).

More info on OCWAR-T Project : https://www.raosupportcellecowas.com/post/organised-crime-west-african-response-to-trafficking-ocwar-t