ECOWAS starts meeting on women in development

A four-day meeting to articulate policies to stimulate the participation of women in development in West Africa opened on Monday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, regional officials said. The meeting was jointly organised by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. It has also drawn participants from ECOWAS member states as well as international governmental and non-governmental organisations. "Part of the objectives of the meeting is to work out policies to be targeted at economic and social sectors in order to reduce poverty among women," an ECOWAS official told IRIN. He said deliberations would also be aimed at aligning regional development programmes to the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, "a new vehicle designed to bring rapid development" to the continent. On the premise that women who often carry an unfair share of communal burdens in the region are consigned to passive roles in development, the meeting envisages a more dynamic role born of a mix of effective policies and programmes, officials said. Part of its remit is to create a means of global exchange of information covering issues related to the role of women in development.