Economic Community of West African States Disaster Preparedness Tabletop Exercise: Building Regional Capacity to Enhance Health Security

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. 400-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda J. Morton Hamer ◽  
Paul L. Reed ◽  
Jane D. Greulich ◽  
Charles W. Beadling
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Management ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
West African ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Member States ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Heads Of State

AbstractObjectiveThe West African Disaster Preparedness Initiative held a disaster preparedness tabletop exercise with representatives from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in November 2015. The tabletop exercise was hosted by the Republic of Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organization and partners in Accra, Ghana.MethodsECOWAS Commission delegates and representatives from 10 member states were confronted with a series of simulated crises. Participants utilized existing national preparedness plans and web-based information technologies to research and communicate about internal disaster threats and those from neighboring countries. After each of the exercise’s three phases, facilitators distributed participant surveys.ResultsA total of 106 individuals participated in the tabletop exercise. During the exercise, national teams utilizing well-developed disaster contingency plans and emergency operations center (EOC) standard operating procedures (SOPs) reached out to help less-prepared national teams. Key issues identified in the survey were language and cultural issues as barriers, effectiveness of disaster management agencies linked to heads of state, and the need for data sharing and real-time communication for situational awareness and multisector coordination.ConclusionThis tabletop exercise helped improve and refine the ECOWAS regional and member states’ national SOPs that teams will employ to prepare for, respond to, and recover from future disasters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:400-404)

The Economic Community of West African States and International Law

1989 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunday Babalola Ajulo
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
International Law ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
West African ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
World War ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
Heads Of State

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) was established by the Treaty signed in Lagos on 25 May 1975 by the Heads of State and Government (or their representatives) from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. They were joined a few months later by Cape Verde, thereby increasing the number of member-states to 16. Following the post-World War II convention whereby international organisations formally insert in their constitutive instruments a declaratory statement concerning their status, it is not surprising that Article 60(1) stipulated that the Community ‘shall enjoy legal personality’. Although such organisations may be similar they are never identical, and this is why the nature and scope of the legal personality of each needs to be ascertained and discussed.

West African regional bloc faces harmonisation tests

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
West African ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type

Subject ECOWAS tests. Significance Recent elections across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have been marred by violence and fraud allegations, and fresh constitutional crises abound. While trade harmonisation efforts are gaining traction, obstacles to implementation persist. Impacts The multiplicity of trade arrangements being negotiated by ECOWAS member states will likely slow the process of trade harmonisation. There will be heightened scrutiny of Senegal’s December local polls after recent electoral disputes and increasing centralisation of power. While most of Togo's opposition will participate in local polls this month, growing disunity could sidetrack its efforts to oust Gnassingbe.

Enforcing ECOWAS Law in West African National Courts

2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
ES Nwauche
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
West African ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
The West ◽  
Member States ◽  
Community Law ◽  
National Courts ◽  
The Law

AbstractOne of the constitutional challenges of regional integration is how to manage the limitation of national judicial sovereignty of member states to ensure that community law is recognized as superior to national law and is accordingly applied and interpreted by national courts at the instance of community citizens. This challenge arises from the national ordering of legal systems and the fact that states are the primary parties to agreements in which they limit their sovereignty in favour of the success of the community. This article examines the enforceability of the law of the Economic Community of West African States in the national courts of the West African states which comprise ECOWAS, with the aim of determining how this affects the integration goals of ECOWAS.

scholarly journals The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States as a Constitutional Court

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kangnikoé Bado
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West African ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
Member States ◽  
Constitutional Order ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Innovative Solutions

One of the major innovations made by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is the unequivocal granting of a supranational role to the Court of Justice of the organisation. However, its human rights mandate has led to real and potential tensions within the ECOWAS legal order. The tensions stem from the legal force of judgments of constitutional courts of member states and the admissibility of individual petitions before the Court. This work identifies some deficiencies in the current regime of the human rights mandate of the Court. Gaps exist at the level of the member states’ constitutional order, as well as at the community level. The supranational competence of the jurisdiction must be implemented by the possibility of ordering concrete measures to be taken by states for the reparation of human rights violations. Innovative solutions are suggested in this work in order to fill procedural and substantial gaps in the protection system established in West Africa.

Characterization of the Key Actors Involved in Humanitarian Supply Chains at the Local Level From a Theoretical and Academic Perspective

2019 ◽  
pp. 216-244
Author(s):  
Juan Camilo López-Vargas ◽  
Diana María Cárdenas-Aguirre ◽  
Jose D. Meisel
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Decision Tools ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chains ◽  
Local Actors

The incremental trends in the amount of human and material losses, added to a higher frequency of natural disasters, have generated greater interest from different sectors regarding the processes of disaster management. In this sense, it is recognized that the context of disasters is strongly marked by the high diversity and quantity of actors which seek common or conflicting objectives. The aim of this chapter is to present the actors involved in the humanitarian supply chains (HSC) and to highlight the importance of key local actors involved in disaster preparedness and response, the latter from an inter-sectoral perspective towards the importance implied by the coordination of the key actors in terms of the humanitarian purposes. The discussion developed allows for the inference about the critical role of local actors in disaster management and HSC, as well as several topics for the theoretical development of humanitarian logistics, such as the application of decision tools and information technologies, and the use of sustainability approach for disaster management.

SOURCES OF THE LAW OF THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS)

2001 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunday Babalola Ajulo
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
West African ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Member States ◽  
Community Court ◽  
Legal Problems ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Law

Articles 6(e) and 15(1–4) of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty (1993) provide for the establishment of a Court of Justice of the Community. These provisions should, however, be read along with those of the Protocol on the Community Court of Justice initialled in 1991. Attempts have been made to analyse various aspects of the institutions of the Community, including the Court of Justice. While Bankole Thompson examined the legal problems of the economic integration in West Africa, Kofi Oteng Kufuor attempted to look at the Court of Justice from the angle of compliance with its judgments by member states. Denakin, for his part, appraised generally the prospects of the Court.

Enhancing Global Health Security: US Africa Command’s Disaster Preparedness Program

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (02) ◽  
pp. 319-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda J. Morton Hamer ◽  
Paul L. Reed ◽  
Jane D. Greulich ◽  
Charles W. Beadling
Keyword(s):  
Capacity Building ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Health Security ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Management Capability ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Military Support ◽  
Management Capabilities

AbstractUS Africa Command’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP), implemented by the Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine, partnered with US Government agencies and international organizations to promote stability and security on the African continent by engaging with African Partner Nations’ (PN) civil and military authorities to improve disaster management capabilities. From 2008 to 2015, DPP conducted disaster preparedness and response programming with 17 PNs. DPP held a series of engagements with each, including workshops, strategic planning, developing preparedness and response plans, tabletop exercises, and prioritizing disaster management capability gaps identified through the engagements. DPP partners collected data for each PN to further capacity building efforts. Thus far, 9 countries have completed military pandemic plans, 10 have developed national pandemic influenza plans, 9 have developed military support to civil authorities plans, and 11 have developed disaster management strategic work plans. There have been 20 national exercises conducted since 2009. DPP was cited as key in implementation of Ebola response plans in PNs, facilitated development of disaster management agencies in DPP PNs, and trained nearly 800 individuals. DPP enhanced PNs’ ability to prepare and respond to crises, fostering relationships between international agencies, and improving civil-military coordination through both national and regional capacity building. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:319–329)

scholarly journals Prioritizing zoonotic diseases using a multisectoral, One Health approach for The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace W. Goryoka ◽  
Virgil Kuassi Lokossou ◽  
Kate Varela ◽  
Nadia Oussayef ◽  
Bernard Kofi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
One Health ◽  
Zoonotic Disease ◽  
Zoonotic Diseases ◽  
West African ◽  
Shared Environment ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Member States ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Health Ministries

Abstract Background Zoonotic diseases pose a significant threat to human, animal, and environmental health. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has endured a significant burden of zoonotic disease impacts. To address zoonotic disease threats in ECOWAS, a One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization (OHZDP) was conducted over five days in December 2018 to prioritize zoonotic diseases of greatest regional concern and develop next steps for addressing these priority zoonoses through a regional, multisectoral, One Health approach. Methods The OHZDP Process uses a mixed methods prioritization process developed by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the OHZDP workshop, representatives from human, animal, and environmental health ministries from all 15 ECOWAS Member States used a transparent and equal process to prioritize endemic and emerging zoonotic diseases of greatest regional concern that should be jointly addressed by One Health ministries and other partners. After the priority zoonotic diseases were identified, participants discussed recommendations and further regional actions to address the priority zoonoses and advance One Health in the region. Results ECOWAS Member States agreed upon a list of seven priority zoonotic diseases for the region – Anthrax, Rabies, Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fevers (for example, Marburg fever, Lassa fever, Rift Valley fever, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever), zoonotic influenzas, zoonotic tuberculosis, Trypanosomiasis, and Yellow fever. Participants developed recommendations and further regional actions that could be taken, using a One Health approach to address the priority zoonotic diseases in thematic areas including One Health collaboration and coordination, surveillance and laboratory, response and preparedness, prevention and control, workforce development, and research. Conclusions ECOWAS was the first region to use the OHZDP Process to prioritize zoonotic disease of greatest concern. With identified priority zoonotic diseases for the region, ECOWAS Member States can collaborate more effectively to address zoonotic diseases threats across the region using a One Health approach. Strengthening national and regional level multisectoral, One Health Coordination Mechanisms will allow ECOWAS Member States to advance One Health and have the biggest impact on improving health outcomes for both people and animals living in a shared environment.

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