By Morlai Sesay
At the Economic Community of Female Parliamentary Association's regional summit held in Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, the speaker of ECOWAS parliament, Rt. Honourable Sidie Mohamed Tunis vowed to continue to support ECOFEPA and its activities. This year's summit, which goes with the theme "Integrating young voices in governance to boost intergenerational justice in decision making," according to Tunis, speaks to ECOFEPA's determination to promote socio-economic integration and provide a voice to all the voiceless women and youth in the governance architecture of the ECOWAS Sub-region. He further noted that looking at the carefully selected speakers, panelists, and topics indicates the practicality of their resolve at the ECOWAS parliament to move from policy to practice.
The Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Rt. Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis asserted that women are builders, and the decision to focus on young women is a welcome development, adding that the statistics of women and youth political representation within the ECOWAS Sub-region are appallingly low. He noted the foregoing assertion, “We have to turn this tide quickly with total commitment and dedication to this noble course”.
Speaker Tunis also reiterated that the youths are the future, so platforms for exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, and codifying best practices should be amplified. To buttress the aforementioned, he stated, “I would like to reiterate that one of the major reasons African countries are lagging developmentally, compared to other continents, is because women and youths have not been given their rightful places in governance”.
He disclosed that targeting the women and youth in the region at this critical time in the political space is just the strategic thing to do. According to Tunis, this resonates with the fact that when women are given a chance in any endeavor, they excel effortlessly.
The speaker maintained that for decades, there has always been a lip service to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion across the social, political, and governance systems in the region. As a result, he said, "We have not been able to achieve a lot within these contexts. It is, therefore, important that we now match our words with actions, rethink the political architecture of the region and make it more inclusive via the community's legal text, programs, policies, practices, and culture. We must also develop monitoring and evaluation systems to gather feedback from women and youth to develop the interventions needed to close these gaps".
The speaker implored the youngsters at the summit to realize there is a cause for optimism. He elucidated that it is increasingly clear that the ECOWAS stakeholders are genuinely disturbed by the political instabilities ravaging some member states and are motivated to work closely with women's and youth-led organizations to proffer lasting solutions.
Honourable Sidie Mohamed Tunis challenged everyone present to rethink the current situation in the region, share ideas, and develop innovations that will move the region from consumption to a more productive one. "Strive to impact your communities by being true to yourselves and letting your differences be your greatest asset, not a mechanism for disputes. Again, as you climb the ladder of success, endeavor to create platforms for social interactions through networking, mentorships, and professional development engagements because this could be a great place to start. I therefore challenge each of you to make for yourselves at least ten new friends from different countries and establish networks for growth and exchange before leaving Freetown", he narrated.
Speaker Tunis ended by expressing his appreciation to the membership of ECOFEPA for supporting his vision for women's empowerment. At the inception of the fifty legislature, he committed to supporting ECOFEPA's programs. It is true to that commitment that ECOFEPA was granted an allocation in the Parliament's budget to carry out its activities aimed at developing a framework for female consultation, strong female solidarity networks, and advocating for implementing 30% affirmative action at all levels within the ECOWAS Region. He stated that he is pleased that the Commission has achieved a lot in the above-mentioned regard and that even though his tenure as Speaker will end soon, he assured that he would continue to support ECOFEPA and its activities.
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