Third Regional Forum of Ministers for Social Development of the ECOWAS

Entirely placed under the heading “Societal Vulnerability - The Social Inclusion Challenges of Environmental Change”, the third Forum of Ministers for Social Development of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will be held in Accra, on 16-17 December 2013.

Organized by the Government of Ghana and UNESCO, within the framework of its Programme on Management of Social Transformations (MOST), this ministerial forum will not only meet the representatives of the 15 ECOWAS’ Member States, but also many social scientists and regional research institutions, such as CODESRIA.

As a platform enabling the exchange of experiences and successful practices in national policies, this event will thus offer opportunities for co-production of knowledge through presentations by, and discussions among all policy-makers and stakeholders involved on regional social policy strategies.

It will allow, inter alia, to share with all participants the results of an important project developed by UNESCO in two countries of the region: Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. In these countries, two studies carried out on the impact of global environmental change on the rights of migrants led to a series of policy recommendations which were endorsed by the participating decision-makers.

Being focused on “The Social Inclusion Challenges of Environmental Change”, this regional forum will be a major contribution to respond to and to implement the two current thematic priorities of the MOST Programme which are “Social transformations arising from global environmental change’’ and “Social Inclusion”.

The notion of “Societal Vulnerability” which will be particularly discussed corresponds precisely to the intersection between these two priorities.

By relating processes of environmental change in West African societies - including climate change, biodiversity loss and freshwater scarcity - to the patterns of social inclusion and exclusion that they reflect and transform, this third Forum will contribute to the knowledge-base for socially inclusive environmental adaptation policies, which constitute a recognized development priority for the ECOWAS member states.

In particular, the issue of environmentally driven societal vulnerability is relevant to the realization of the Social Policy Framework for Africa, adopted at the first session of the African Union Conference of Ministers in Charge of Social Development (2008).

Environmentally driven societal vulnerability further reflects decisions taken at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio de Janeiro, June 2012).

It is foreseen that the ministers will adopt a Ministerial Declaration with policy recommendations to respond to societal responsibility supported by research.

Initiated by UNESCO, the first Forum of Ministers for Social Development of the ECOWAS was held, in Bamako, Mali, on 25 and 26 January 2006.