CAYF is organizing the 2nd edition of Model ECOWAS Summit in May 2016, focusing on Peace building and security in West Africa, under the Auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Republic of Ghana.
The Model ECOWAS Summit is a bi-annual event that brings together the youth, civil society actors, private sector and stakeholders from West Africa to deliberate and share ideas on issues. The focal areas for the 2016 edition of the summit are Peace Building and Security.
The maiden edition of the summit was held in May 2014 at the Accra International Conference Centre with a patronage of 300 participants.
The purpose of the summit, among others is to enhance the policy of transformation ECOWAS from ‘’ECOWAS of States to ‘’ ECOWAS of People , create a good platform for exposing the youth to the operations of ECOWAS, interact, create partnerships, build relationships. That is, ensuring that, the youth actively engage development partners, civil society and government to contribute to developmental issues through dialogue.
The summit which is a high research based program follows the format of the ECOWAS heads of state and Government meeting. The youth represents ECOWAS member states and share their perspective on thematic areas of the summit. Participants also represent ECOWAS member states in different Specialized Technical Commission during breakout sessions to present practical solutions. Therefore, prior to the summit, participants shall thoroughly research their assigned nation´s policies and position concerning the thematic areas of the summit and present position papers accordingly.
The summit comprises of a plenary session, and a break-out (specialized technical commission) session.
The objective of each break-out session (Specialized Technical Commission session) is to enable participants to write a resolution that deals with the thematic areas and provide a framework that solves the issue(s), or at least addresses the need for action. The summit is a pivotal forum that is expected to bring together up to 300 participants, civil society representatives mostly from across the 15 countries of West Africa, to share experiences, strengthen knowledge and create new ideas.
OBJECTIVES
-Enhance the policy of transforming ECOWAS from ‘’ECOWAS of States to ‘’ECOWAS of People’’
-Create a good platform for exposing the youth to the role, institutions, performance and operations of ECOWAS.
-Create a platform to enable the youth interact, create partnerships, build relationships
-To bring together the youth from across West Africa to discuss the challenges and priorities of young people and to develop an agenda for youth inclusion in the development processes.
-Educate the youth of their role in the development agenda of ECOWAS in accordance with the ECOWAS vision 2020 particularly in area of peace and security.