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| ECOWAS Initiates Resilience, Security Evaluation in Nigeria |
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has started a resilience and human security evaluation across its member states.
The initiative aims to enhance the understanding of security dynamics and trends, and to fortify the resilience structures that bolster human security within the member states.
This initiative is jointly funded by the European Union and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Following a technical meeting in Abuja on Monday, Chris Ngwodo, the Director of the Office for Strategic Preparedness and Response in Nigeria, stated that the session marked the beginning of the country's resilience and human security evaluation.
This assessment is being conducted throughout West Africa, with Nigeria being the pioneer in this effort.
"The goal is to chart the human security vulnerabilities and resilience factors within our nation.
"We aim to grasp the intricate factors that fuel conflicts and instability in Nigeria, to chart the resilience elements that can aid us in addressing these challenges, challenges that provoke conflicts and strife, and most importantly, we aim to gather concrete data that can inform governmental policy reforms," he explained.
He mentioned that this evaluation follows up on a human security vulnerability assessment carried out in 2018.
"The insights from the previous assessment have been instrumental in establishing early warning systems throughout West Africa, especially in Nigeria," Ngwodo remarked, emphasizing that "this effort is a continuation of that specific line of investigation."
He added that the team plans to visit areas that have demonstrated resilience to conflicts and violence, "as we also seek to comprehend the elements of resilience."
