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0 News Ghana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https://newsghana.com.gh/ecowas-and-spanish-agency-bolster-gender-equality-efforts-in-west-africa/
The ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC) hosted a technical working visit by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) on April 9–10, 2025, in Dakar, Senegal, marking a milestone in their partnership to advance gender equality and combat gender-based violence across West Africa.
The engagement, part of a collaboration launched in 2022, aimed to evaluate progress under AECID’s institutional support project and refine strategies for enhancing women’s participation and access to development resources. Since its inception, the partnership has strengthened EGDC’s capacity, improved coordination with ECOWAS member states and regional bodies, and developed tools for gender data collection and policy analysis.
During the visit, officials reviewed achievements, including the rollout of ECOWAS’s digital ecosystem, which features the EGDC website for visibility, the ECOGO platform for data aggregation, AI-driven analytical tools, a digital collaboration space, and a cybersecurity dashboard. These innovations aim to streamline gender-focused policymaking and monitoring.
Discussions also identified new synergies in priority areas such as institutional development, obstetric fistula prevention, gendered data collection, and women’s economic empowerment. AECID and EGDC emphasized aligning efforts to address systemic barriers to equality, particularly in rural and marginalized communities.
The mission builds on ECOWAS’s vision of an inclusive society where women and men equally contribute to and benefit from regional development. By integrating technical expertise from AECID, the EGDC seeks to amplify its impact through evidence-based interventions and cross-border knowledge sharing.
While specific financial commitments were not disclosed, both parties affirmed plans to expand joint initiatives, leveraging digital tools to enhance program efficiency and transparency. The collaboration underscores growing international support for West Africa’s gender equality agendas, critical in a region where disparities persist in education, healthcare, and political representation.
As the partnership enters its next phase, stakeholders stress the urgency of sustaining momentum amid challenges such as limited funding and cultural resistance. The EGDC-AECID alliance signals a coordinated approach to transforming policy frameworks into tangible outcomes, ensuring gender equity remains central to ECOWAS’s broader integration goals.
News Ghana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https://newsghana.com.gh/ecowas-and-spanish-agency-bolster-gender-equality-efforts-in-west-africa/
