The United States Institute of Peace says the Economic Community of West African States remains the pillar of democracy in Africa and must be protected and supported by member states.

Chris Kwaja, the country director of the institute, said this in an interview on Wednesday.

Mr Kwaja said ECOWAS was a guardian of democracy and democratic governance in the region and must be protected against threats, especially unconstitutional change of government in West Africa.

“The role of the ECOWAS in the African region is too enormous to overlook or undermine and must be protected and supported by members and other countries where democracy has gained deep roots.

“ECOWAS needs the support of everyone to deliver on its mandate of protecting democracy in the region, protecting the people of West Africa from threats, and most importantly, holding the region together,” said Mr Kwaja.

He added, “The world is undergoing a huge transformation and this transformation is one in which the threats today are multidimensional which requires multidimensional responses.

“ECOWAS must be positioned in a way that it can respond to these threats regardless of where they are coming from.”

Mr Kwaja said there were threats against democracy in West Africa, and ECOWAS needed the support of countries where democracy had gained roots to protect the region from enemies of democracy.

He said Africa should not depend solely on the individual member states or its people but garner the needed support from strong regional institutions with the capacity to mobilise all available resources, both human and financial.

He, however, said there was a need for states within the region to defend and protect ECOWAS because there are great threats targeted at it, which were linked to terrorism, insurgency, and particularly relating to climate change.

Mr Kwaja said because West Africa was one of the regions with the highest rate of vulnerability to climate change, the international community required all forms of support.

He advised ECOWAS to be proactive in responding to threats. 

(NAN)