13 January 2017 – Briefing the Security Council on the situation in West Africa and the Sahel region, a senior United Nations official cited a “rising tide of democracy” throughout the continent, noting that a number of countries had recently held elections which largely complied with electoral norm...

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission wishes to congratulate the entire Community citizens on the occasion of the maiden celebration of the ECOWAS Human Rights Day. This celebration places a particular focus on the promotion and protection of women’s rights in all its ram...

The UNHCR and ECOWAS recently signed an MoU to improve the protection environment for stateless persons. Pierre is eighteen years old. He was born to Burkinabe parents in Ghana. He was not registered at birth and neither were his parents. An orphan with no nationality, Pierre is stateless. Whi...

“Identity document is important, identity document is life” To prevent former Liberian refugees in West Africa from becoming stateless, the Liberian government has been conducting re-assesment missions of those at risk of statelessness in countries where they have sought asylum. DAKAR, SENEGAL...

An innovative new teacher training initiative was launched last week in Ghana using satellite technology to deliver lessons on teaching strategies. Train for Tomorrow aims to coach up to 5,000 teachers over two years by beaming interactive programmes into classrooms at selected hub schools. "W...

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has a adopted strategies to eradicate statelessness in the sub-region by 2024. During a 3-day ministerial conference that began on Monday in Gambia’s capital Banjul, experts from the bloc’s 15 member states resolved to finalize a plan of acti...

La communauté économique des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEDEAO) a adopté officiellement le mardi 9 mai, lors d’une conférence ministérielle à Banjul, en Gambie, un plan d’élimination du phénomène de privation de nationalité, appelé apatride. « L’Afrique de l’Ouest se pose en leader de la...

Reflections on the progress in Ghana This past May, colleagues in Ghana invited me to assess the progress in the inclusion of refugee students from Côte d’Ivoire in the Ghanaian education system. Since 2011, approximately 11,500 persons from Côte d’Ivoire have fled post-election violence to ta...

SECURITY COUNCIL 7862ND MEETING (AM) SC/12681 Amid a “rising tide of democracy” across the African continent, the United Nations must continue to support regional efforts to ensure that the Gambia’s recent election results were upheld, stressed the Organization’s senior official in West Africa...

1 July – 31 December 2016 By Mohamed Ibn Chambas Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNOWAS New York, 13 January 2017 Monsieur le Président, Distingués membres du Conseil, 1. C’est un honneur pour moi de me retrouver devant cette auguste assemblée, pou...