President of the Economic Community of West African States, Wednesday expressed concern over the burden of misinformation and disinformation against the region.
Touray also lamented the burden of breaches to the regional body’s rules.
He said the absence of communication between ECOWAS and the Sahel region is undermining the unity of the region.
He stressed that the region was still being burdened with multiple interlocking threats, including existential ones, posing significant challenges to the unity of ECOWAS member states.
He said: “As we commemorate the 49th anniversary of our collective regional integration project, our region is still confronted with multiple interlocking threats, including existential ones, posing significant challenges.
“The Sahel faces climate and man-made crises, leading to terrorism and violent extremism. The Gulf of Guinea faces illegal fishing, drug trafficking, and dumping of toxic waste; thus, affecting livelihoods. Governance deficits and marginalization have strained social contracts, engendering bitter political rivalries, resource competition, organised crime and violence.
“To complicate the situation, our Region has also become the arena of multipolar geostrategic and geopolitical competition, coupled with the explosion of new destructive technologies.”
He added: “The region is also affected by strategies of misinformation and disinformation practices that foster mistrust among stakeholders and undermine social cohesion.
“We are increasingly witnessing the continued shrinking of the political and civic space, perpetrated through exclusionary constitutional and institutional processes, breaches of our regional norms and values, including the Constitutional Convergence Criteria of the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
“The continued absence of effective communication between the Alliance of Sahelian States and ECOWAS is preoccupying and undermines the unity of purpose of the regional integration agenda. Against this backdrop, our region continues to face challenges of development and the rapidly changing geostrategic and geopolitical environment that further complicates regional cohesion and the integration process.
“Amidst this gloomy picture, however, we are encouraged by the rays of hope in democratic consolidation as demonstrated by recent electoral successes in Senegal and Liberia. In Sierra Leone and The Gambia, ECOWAS has continued to promote dialogue, truth, justice, and reconciliation processes, with promising results.
The Commission has, in light of the foregoing, commenced technical preparations towards the holding of an inclusive Special Summit on the Future of Regional Integration in West Africa.
“In our effort to find lasting solutions to this situation, the ECOWAS Ambassadors met on 29 June 2024 at the Mediation and Security Council session to discuss the political and security situation in the Region, to deliberate on the efforts being undertaken by the ECOWAS commission at the political, security, humanitarian and preventive diplomacy levels and to agree on the agenda items for this Session.
Having due regard to the issues highlighted above, during this Session, Your Excellencies will be invited to deliberate on the following memoranda and reports:
Report of the meeting of the 40th MSC at Ambassadorial level
Memorandum on the Political, Peace and Security situations in the Region
Memorandum on the Review Process of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy & Good Governance
Memorandum on Transitions in the Region
Memorandum on Guinea
Memorandum on the AES States
Memorandum on the Operationalisation of the ECOWAS Security Architecture
Progress Report on the ECOWAS Logistics Depot
Progress Report on the Stabilization Mission in Sierra Leone
Presentation of the Report of the Meeting of Ministers of Finance/Defence
Memorandum on the Humanitarian Situation in the Region
Update on the Operationalisation of Early Warning (Response Centres in Member States).
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I remain confident that your deliberations will contribute to informed conclusions and constructive recommendations for the consideration of the Authority.”
Touray also expressed his profound gratitude and appreciation to His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, for his informed and indefatigable leadership of the Community.
Likewise, the ECOWAS Commission president commended Yusuf Tuggar, the Chair of Council, for his guidance, particularly in responding to ongoing challenges in the region and in preparing this 52nd Session of the Mediation and Security Council.
