ECOWAS, ICRC cooperate

ECOWAS and the International Committee of the Red Cross have agreed to exchange information and consult on matters of mutual concern, the two organisations reported. Under the agreement, signed on 15 February in Abuja, Nigeria, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the ICRC may undertake joint activities to achieve common objectives. "This is an important agreement," Pierre Wettach, the ICRC delegate-general for Africa, said. "It recognises the independent, impartial and neutral nature of the ICRC and will thus facilitate acceptance of our working principles in conflict areas." Since 1990, ECOWAS has been playing a leading role in settling conflicts in West Africa. As the community's peace monitoring force, ECOMOG, prepares to deploy to the borders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, ICRC delegates have already begun to raise awareness of international humanitarian law among the troops. ECOWAS and the ICRC may now be invited to attend each others' meetings as observers. ECOWAS, set up in 1975 to promote economic integration in West Africa, comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Mauritania left the group in December 2000.