Ghana to host ECOWAS forum on social development
Ghana is to host the third Forum of Ministers for Social Development of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Accra, on December 16 and 17.
The forum is on the theme: “Societal Vulnerability – The Social Inclusion Challenges of Environmental Change,” within UNESCO, Programme on Management of Social Transformations (MOST).
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Nana Oye Lithur, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, described the forum as a platform for 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”.
Nana Oye said the regional forum would be a major contribution to respond to and for the implementation of two current thematic priorities of the MOST Programmes which are “Social transformations arising from global environmental change’’ and “Social Inclusion”.
She said the notion of “Societal Vulnerability” which will be particularly discussed corresponds precisely to the intersection between these two priorities.
The Gender Minister said 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,” she noted.
The Gender Minister said the ministers would 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 in order to strengthen the link between social sciences research and policy-making, and in an effort to address poverty and social policy issues in Latin America,
UNESCO launched a meeting of Ministers of Social Development in the region in 2001. In partnership with the participating States, UNESCO undertook to formalize and institutionalize this Forum. It now meets regularly.
Source: GNA