COMMUNIQUÉ — 15TH MEETING OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE WEST AFRICA NETWORK AND THE ANNUAL PEER REVIEW FOR CHILD PROTECTION (RAO). DECEMBER 3-4, 2019, SALY, SENEGAL.
1. The 15th meeting of the Steering Committee of the West Africa Network and the annual peer review for child protection was held from December 3 to 4, 2019, at the Amaryllis Hotel in Saly, Senegal. The meeting was held under the auspices of the Government of the Republic of Senegal, under the authority of the ECOWAS Commission through the Department of Social Affairs and Gender, with the technical support of Service Social International West Africa (SSI-AO), and sponsored by the European Union and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
2. This meeting brought together Member States (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Gambia), alongside international organizations, civil society organizations and representatives of children and young people (MAEJT), to discuss the commitments made at the Banjul meeting regarding child protection signposts, to present good practices that could inspire different countries, and to explore new prospects for ensuring that children on the move are taken into account in national child protection policies, and to adapt the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons and Goods to the new realities states are facing.
3. States present at this meeting welcomed the efforts made by ECOWAS to ensure free movement of goods and people throughout its space. They also pointed out certain aspects of the protocol that could be improved with regard to taking into account issues linked to the mobility of children and young people. To this end, participants agreed to build on the work already carried out by SSI-AO to make concrete proposals that should lead to an additional protocol to the existing ECOWAS framework on the free movement of goods and people. For national ownership, it will be up to each country to organize local consultations with children’s organizations to ensure their opinions are taken into account in the process.
4. It should be noted that the countries present at this meeting, through their presentations, have undertaken actions to reproduce, promote and popularize the protection signposts. However, it should be emphasized that, overall, these countries were encouraged to accelerate their communication strategies to make the deployment of protection signposts a priority.
5. While underlining the relevance of these signposts, participants noted that their installation should follow a clear process to ensure that the places where they are placed become locations where children are genuinely safe.
6. In this vein, SSI-AO is invited to finalize the process for validating the “Manual for Training Intersectoral Actors on the Importance and Use of the Child Protection Signpost.” The draft document should be shared with stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe so their observations can be incorporated if necessary.
7. Participants welcomed the establishment, at the level of the ECOWAS Commission, of a mechanism to monitor implementation by member states of the ECOWAS strategy on children’s rights, starting in 2020. They also recalled the need to take into account certain priorities linked to the emergency situation being experienced by some countries in the sub-region.
8. Participants noted with interest the ECOWAS Commission’s proposal to combine into a single meeting the meetings of child protection directors on all the themes addressed in the strategy. They also suggested that discussions continue with the various parties regarding the practical organization of this meeting.
9. Members of the Steering Committee reiterated their thanks to SSI-AO and all technical and financial partners for organizing this 15th meeting, and committed to sharing the essence of the discussions with their respective governments.
Done in Saly, Wednesday, December 4, 2019.
