Ghana hosts ECOWAS small arms control meeting

ECOWAS

Accra, Aug. 22, GNA – Ghana is to host the sub-regional ECOWAS Small Arms Programme (ECOSAP) from August 24th to 25th to identify armed violence reduction projects in member states.

The Accra meeting will also update, review and plan National Commission (NATCOM) activities in line with benchmarks that were set in recent past.

A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra and signed by Mr Oluwafisan BANKALE, ECOSAP Policy, Advocacy & Communication Officer, said the meeting seeks to build the capacity of civil society on narrative report writing, drafting of project proposal and development of activity work plans.

The Accra meeting precedes the annual general conference of National Commissions on Small Arms, which comes off later in September under the auspices of ECOSAP.

Participants at the meetings would include staff from NATCOM, the UNDP focal point, ECOSAP and a representative from civil society.

In order to give effective technical backstopping to the NATCOMs and the civil society, ECOSAP has divided the ECOWAS member states into four clusters.

These are Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry formed the Banjul team, whiles Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone constitute the Accra group; Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Senegal, the Ouagadougou team; Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo and Nigeria formed the Lome team.

GNA