The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Government of Ghana and development partners have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening institutional capacity, gender equality and women’s empowerment across West Africa.

The partners pledged to deepen collaboration to promote inclusive and sustainable development through stronger institutions, improved coordination and evidence-based policymaking.

The commitment was reaffirmed at the 2026 ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC) Annual Briefing and Information Sharing Session with Gender Focal Persons from ECOWAS Member States in Accra.

The meeting reviewed the Centre’s achievements between 2022 and 2026 and outlined its strategic priorities for the 2026-2030 period.

Ambassador Mohammed Lawan Gana, ECOWAS Resident Representative in Ghana, commended the Government for hosting the meeting and reaffirmed the ECOWAS Commission’s commitment to advancing gender equality in the sub-region.

He said the meeting sought to strengthen collaboration among member states, build the capacity of national gender focal persons to implement regional gender policies and programmes, and introduce the ECOWAS Gender Observatory to improve gender data collection, reporting, analysis and evidence-based policymaking.

Ambassador Gana acknowledged progress in women’s leadership, education, entrepreneurship and peacebuilding but said persistent gender inequalities, limited institutional capacity, weak coordination mechanisms and inadequate financial resources continued to constrain progress.

He called for stronger institutions, sustainable financing, improved coordination and enhanced technical capacity to advance the ECOWAS Gender Policy, Agenda 2063, the Maputo Protocol, Sustainable Development Goal Five and the ECOWAS 2026-2030 Strategic Agenda.

Madam Valerie Arikpo-Ettah, Technical Advisor for the Women, Youth, Peace and Security component of the GIZ-ECOWAS Peace, Security and Governance Project, reaffirmed GIZ’s commitment to supporting ECOWAS in promoting gender equality, peace, security and good governance.

She said investment in women and girls was both a moral obligation and a strategic investment for sustainable development, resilience and inclusive economic growth, and underscored the importance of reliable data, timely reporting and knowledge sharing to support evidence-based policymaking and accountability.

Madam Arikpo-Ettah said GIZ would continue to support ECOWAS through the Peace, Security and Governance Project in areas including conflict prevention, governance, elections, security sector reforms and the Women, Youth, Peace and Security agenda.

She said stronger partnerships, improved coordination and shared ownership among member states would be critical to achieving the Centre’s strategic objectives over the next four years.

Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, in a statement read on her behalf, commended the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre and national gender focal persons for advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment across the sub-region.

She highlighted Ghana’s implementation of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act, 2024, which provides for 30 per cent female representation by 2026, 35 per cent by 2028 and gender parity by 2034, as well as the launch of the revised National Gender Policy (2025-2034).

The Minister said Ghana had strengthened measures to combat sexual and gender-based violence, child marriage and human trafficking through the implementation of the Social Protection Act, 2025, the expansion of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme, the introduction of free primary healthcare and the establishment of the Women’s Development Bank to promote women’s economic empowerment.

She reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to implementing the Gender Equality Act, expanding social protection programmes and promoting the ECOWAS Gender Observatory as a regional platform for quality gender data.