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6th Annual Forum of National Volunteering Agencies in West Africa

From 27 to 29 May 2024, Cotonou hosted the 6th edition of the annual forum of national volunteering agencies in West Africa. Organised by the ECOWAS Centre for Youth and Sports Development and the National Employment Agency (ANPE) in Benin, this annual meeting was held under the theme ‘Innovating for Impact: Transforming Volunteering through Innovation in the ECOWAS Region’. This forum forms part of ECOWAS’s commitment to creating opportunities for direct dialogue between national volunteer agencies, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, and national, regional and international stakeholders in the field of volunteering, and the ECOWAS CDJS, with a view to promoting volunteering within the ECOWAS region. Adopting a holistic and inclusive approach, the unique platform created by the Forum provides an essential foundation for facilitating dialogue and strengthening institutional partnerships between the key stakeholders in the field, and enables ECOWAS to play a central role in coordinating voluntary action within the Community. Over the course of three days, participants from 11 of the 15 ECOWAS Member States, alongside national, regional and international institutional partners, examined not only the theme selected for this edition but also the status of implementation of the resolutions from the 5th Forum. Organised in the form of technical meetings and panel discussions, the Forum was attended by representatives from France Volontaires, UN Volontaire, CONFEJES, the AU and non-governmental organisations that had taken part in the 5th Forum. It also served as a platform for the publication and official launch of the ‘2021 Guide to Good Practices on the Contribution of Volunteering to the Fight against Epidemics in the ECOWAS Region’ ’, a compendium of experiences and good practices regarding the contribution of volunteering to the response to pandemics in West Africa. The opening ceremony was presided over by the Beninese Minister for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Employment Promotion, His Excellency Modeste Kerekou, represented by the Secretary-General for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Mr César Aklossou. The Beninese government expressed its gratitude to the ECOWAS Commission and the CDJS for choosing Benin to host the proceedings of the Sixth Forum of National Volunteer Agencies in West Africa. During the meeting, focus groups were formed, chaired by Ambassador Olawale AWE, to discuss innovative best practices in volunteering with a view to achieving a lasting impact in communities. The valuable contributions and experiences of the participants were recorded in a report adopted unanimously, and these will form the basis for the forthcoming compendium and guide to best practice on the Forum’s theme. As for the next event, Sierra Leone was chosen to host the 7th edition of the Forum. Togo and The Gambia were selected to host the 8th and 9th editions respectively. The closing ceremony took place on 29 May and was attended by the ambassadors: His Excellency Olawale AWE, Head of the ECOWAS National Office in Nigeria; His Excellency Harouna Moussa, ECOWAS Resident Representative in Sierra Leone; Francis Chuks NJOAGUANI, Director of the ECOWAS Centre for Youth and Sports Development and, at the same time, Acting Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Burkina Faso; and Urbain Stanislas AMEGBEDJI, Director-General of the National Employment Agency in Benin.