The ECOWAS Peace Fund (EPF) on Tuesday in Abuja convened a Joint Strategic Consultation Meeting with partners and stakeholders aimed at addressing the challenges of funding peace and security in the sub-region.

The EPF seeks to provide support for ECOWAS’ activities and initiatives, including conflict prevention, management, resolution, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and recovery.

The three-day event, which began with an opening session, seeks to develop the capacities of relevant stakeholders to promote sustainable peace and human security across the subregion.

Declaring the meeting open, ECOWAS Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah decried the challenges of funding peace and security that the Commission was currently facing.

Mr Musah, however, noted that in spite of the challenges ECOWAS has faced over the years, it has achieved success in that regard. He urged participants to make useful contributions at the meeting and make themselves available to enable the subregion to achieve milestones in its peace and security agenda.

According to him, the meeting also aims to enable participants and stakeholders to share ideas on how similar organisations have been able to manage peace and security funding in their domains.

Also speaking, EPF Manager Dieudonné Nikema said the purpose of the meeting was to bring stakeholders together to explore the best structure for the Peace Fund to enable it to fulfil its purpose.

He recalled that EPF had tremendously impacted by supporting and promoting the ECOWAS peace and security agenda, having addressed the myriad challenges the subregion was facing.

The EPF manager further said that apart from getting funding from the mandatory 5 per cent ECOWAS member states’ community levy, it also got support from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Tony Elumelu, ECOWAS Commission’s Director, Private Sector, said the reason for the private sector’s participation was for strategic engagement to let them understand what Peace Fund was all about.

(NAN)