Commemoration of the 48th anniversary of the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Burkina Faso
Commemoration of the 48th anniversary of the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Burkina Faso.
From 21 May to 2 June 2023, a series of educational and sporting events was organised in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, a series of educational and sporting activities was organised to commemorate the 48th anniversary of the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the theme ‘Towards Shared Prosperity’.
As part of these celebrations, the ECOWAS Centre for Youth and Sports Development (CDJS/ECOWAS) collaborated with the ECOWAS Representation in Burkina Faso, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Co-operation and Burkinabè Abroad, and several Burkinabè sports federations to organise the programme.
Activities included the ECOWAS Cycling Grand Prix, the 9th edition of the football academy tournament, a boxing gala, an international pétanque tournament, a panel discussion on the free movement of goods and people, and an inter-school public speaking competition in Ouagadougou, which aimed to raise the profile of ECOWAS amongst pupils and to instil in them, in addition to public speaking skills, the values of peace, tolerance and civic-mindedness for the prosperity of the community.
The culmination of the activities took place on 2 June at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso in the presence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Olivia R. Rouamba, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Burkina Faso, the Ambassador of Tunisia, members of the diplomatic corps, the ECOWAS Resident Representative, the directors of the two ECOWAS specialised agencies based in Ouagadougou (ECOWAS CDJS and ECOWAS CCRE), as well as representatives of the Burkinabe customs and police services, amongst others.
On this occasion, the winning pupils and schools from the public speaking and debating competition were presented with awards at an official ceremony presided over by Her Excellency Ms Olivia Rouamba, the Burkinabe Minister for Foreign Affairs. Ten (10) schools from Ouagadougou took part in the competition, which was won by the young debaters from the Collège Notre Dame de l’Espérance Avé Maria. The awards ceremony, which also marked the commemoration of Africa Day 2023 in Burkina Faso, was followed by a panel discussion on ‘The Role of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in the implementation of the AfCFTA: the case of ECOWAS’. The day before, on 1 June 2023, a workshop had been led by experts from Burkina Faso and the ECOWAS Commission on assessing the implementation of the protocol on the free movement of people and goods within the ECOWAS region.
