Editing ECOWAS (section)

== Structure ==

=== Overall ===
ECOWAS consists of two operating institutions to implement policies: the ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) – formerly known as the Fund for Cooperation, until it was renamed in 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bidc-ebid.org/en/?page_id=42697 |website=ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development |title=Aboutus – EBID &#124; ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development |access-date=3 February 2022 |archive-date=3 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203144953/https://www.bidc-ebid.org/en/?page_id=42697 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In addition, ECOWAS includes the following institutions: ECOWAS Commission, Community Court of Justice,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://prod.courtecowas.org/ |title=CCJ Official Website |work=prod.courtecowas.org |access-date=16 October 2019 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126174839/http://prod.courtecowas.org/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Community Parliament,<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.ecowas.int/ |title=Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) |work=ecowas.int |access-date=27 July 2023 |archive-date=22 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222021223/https://www.ecowas.int/ |url-status=live}}</ref> ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID),<ref name="auto"/> West African Health Organisation (WAHO),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wahooas.org/web-ooas/ |title=WAHO &#124; West African Health Organization |website=www.wahooas.org |access-date=27 July 2023 |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101114112/https://www.wahooas.org/web-ooas/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in West Africa (GIABA).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.giaba.org/ |title=Welcome ! |publisher=GIABA |access-date=2019-10-16 |archive-date=7 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207185437/https://www.giaba.org/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

ECOWAS includes two sub-regional blocks:

* The [[West African Economic and Monetary Union]] (also known by its French-language acronym UEMOA) is an organisation of eight, mainly French-speaking, states within ECOWAS which share a [[customs union]] and [[currency union]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Basic information {{!}} Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) |url=https://ecowas.int/about-ecowas/basic-information/ |access-date=2022-02-21 |website=ecowas.int |archive-date=21 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221052450/https://ecowas.int/about-ecowas/basic-information/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Established in 1994 and intended to counterbalance the dominance of English-speaking economies in the bloc (such as Nigeria and Ghana), members of UEMOA are mostly former territories of [[French West Africa]]. The currency they all use is the [[CFA franc]], which is [[Fixed exchange-rate system|pegged]] to the [[euro]].<ref name=":0" />
* The [[West African Monetary Zone]] (WAMZ), established in 2000, comprises six mainly English-speaking countries within ECOWAS which plan to work towards adopting their own common currency, the [[Eco (currency)|eco]].<ref name=":0" />

ECOWAS operates in three co-official languages—French, English, and Portuguese.<ref name=":0" />

=== Executive secretaries and presidents of the commission ===
{| class=" wikitable sortable"
|-
!Executive Secretary
! Country
! In office
|-
| Inaugural holder [[Aboubakar Diaby Ouattara]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ajulo |first=Sunday Babalola |date=1989 |title=The Economic Community of West African States and International Law |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=233–250 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X0000046X |jstor=160849 |s2cid=154306079 |issn=0022-278X}}</ref>
|{{CIV}}
| January 1977 – 1985
|-
|[[Momodu Munu]]
| rowspan="2" |{{SLE}}
| 1985–1989
|-
|[[Abass Bundu]]
| 1989–1993
|-
|[[Édouard Benjamin]]
| rowspan="2" |{{GIN}}
| 1993–1997
|-
|[[Lansana Kouyaté]]
| September 1997 – 31 January 2002
|-
|[[Mohamed Ibn Chambas]]
| rowspan="3" |{{GHA}}
| 1 February 2002 – 31 December 2006
|-
|[[Mohamed Ibn Chambas]]
| 1 January 2007 – 18 February 2010
|-
|[[James Victor Gbeho]]
| 18 February 2010 – 1 March 2012
|-
|[[Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo]]
|{{BFA}}
| 1 March 2012 – 4 June 2016
|-
|[[Marcel Alain de Souza]]
|{{BEN}}
| 4 June 2016 – 1 March 2018
|-
|[[Jean-Claude Brou]]
|{{CIV}}
| 1 March 2018 – 3 July 2022
|-
|[[Omar Touray]]
|{{GAM}}
| 3 July 2022 – present
|}

=== Chairpersons===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Chairperson<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.ecowas.int/history-2/ |title=History |publisher=Directorate of Communication, ECOWAS Commission |year=2024 |access-date=30 January 2024 |archive-date=14 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114230656/https://www.ecowas.int/history-2/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
! Country
! In office
|-
|[[Yakubu Gowon]]
|{{NGR}}
| 28 May 1975 – 29 July 1975
|-
|[[Gnassingbé Eyadéma]]
|{{TOG}}
| 29 July 1975 – 13 September 1977
|-
|[[Olusegun Obasanjo]]
|{{NGR}}
| 13 September 1977 – 30 September 1979
|-
|[[Léopold Sédar Senghor]]
|{{SEN}}
| 30 September 1979 – 31 December 1980
|-
|[[Gnassingbé Eyadéma]]
|{{TOG}}
| 1980–1981
|-
|[[Siaka Stevens]]
|{{SLE}}
| 1981–1982
|-
|[[Mathieu Kérékou]]
|{{flag|Benin|1975}}
| 1982–1983
|-
|[[Ahmed Sékou Touré]]
| rowspan="2" |{{GIN}}
| 1983–1984
|-
|[[Lansana Conté]]
| 1984–1985
|-
|[[Muhammadu Buhari]]
| rowspan="2" |{{NGR}}
| 1985 – 27 August 1985
|-
|[[Ibrahim Babangida]]
| 27 August 1985 – 1989
|-
|[[Dawda Jawara]]
|{{GAM}}
| 1989–1990
|-
|[[Blaise Compaoré]]
|{{BFA}}
| 1990–1991
|-
|[[Dawda Jawara]]
|{{GAM}}
| 1991–1992
|-
|[[Abdou Diouf]]
|{{SEN}}
| 1992–1993
|-
|[[Nicéphore Soglo]]
|{{BEN}}
| 1993–1994
|-
|[[Jerry Rawlings]]
|{{GHA}}
| 1994 – 27 July 1996
|-
|[[Sani Abacha]]
| rowspan="2" |{{NGR}}
| 27 July 1996 – 8 June 1998
|-
|[[Abdulsalami Abubakar]]
| 9 June 1998 – 1999
|-
|[[Gnassingbé Eyadéma]]
|{{TOG}}
| 1999–1999
|-
|[[Alpha Oumar Konaré]]
|{{MLI}}
| 1999 – 21 December 2001
|-
|[[Abdoulaye Wade]]
|{{SEN}}
| 21 December 2001 – 31 January 2003
|-
|[[John Kufuor]]
|{{GHA}}
| 31 January 2003 – 19 January 2005
|-
|[[Mamadou Tandja]]
|{{NIG}}
| 19 January 2005 – 19 January 2007
|-
|[[Blaise Compaoré]]
|{{BFA}}
| 19 January 2007 – 19 December 2008
|-
|[[Umaru Musa Yar'Adua]]
| rowspan="2" |{{NGR}}
| 19 December 2008 – 18 February 2010
|-
|[[Goodluck Jonathan]]
| 18 February 2010 – 17 February 2012
|-
|[[Alassane Ouattara]]
|{{CIV}}
| 17 February 2012 – 17 February 2013
|-
|[[John Mahama]]
|{{GHA}}
| 17 February 2013 – 19 May 2015
|-
|[[Macky Sall]]
|{{SEN}}
| 19 May 2015 – 4 June 2016
|-
|[[Ellen Johnson Sirleaf]]
|{{LBR}}
|4 June 2016 – 4 June 2017
|-
|[[Faure Gnassingbé]]
|{{TOG}}
|4 June 2017 – 31 July 2018
|-
|[[Muhammadu Buhari]]
|{{NGR}}
|31 July 2018 – 29 June 2019
|-
|[[Mahamadou Issoufou]]
|{{NIG}}
|29 June 2019 – 2 June 2020
|-
|[[Nana Akufo-Addo]]
|{{GHA}}
|2 June 2020 – 3 July 2022
|-
|[[Umaro Sissoco Embaló]]
|{{GNB}}
|3 July 2022 – 9 July 2023
|-
|[[Bola Tinubu]]
|{{NGR}}
|9 July 2023 – Present
|}

=== Regional security co-operation ===
{{See also|Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group|ECOWAS Standby Force}}
ECOWAS nations signed a non-aggression protocol in 1990 along with two earlier agreements in 1978 and 1981. They also signed a Protocol on Mutual Defence Assistance in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 29 May 1981, that provided for the establishment of an Allied Armed Force of the Community.<ref>{{cite web |title=Profile: Economic Community of West African States |publisher=Africa Union |date=18 November 2010 |url=http://www.africa-union.org/Recs/ECOWASProfile.pdf |access-date=10 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626213148/http://www.africa-union.org/Recs/ECOWASProfile.pdf |archive-date=26 June 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Community Parliament ===
The Community Parliament consists of 115 members, distributed based on the population of each member state.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 September 2016 |title=About Us – ECOWAS Parliament |url=http://www.ecowasparliament.org/en/about-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307061719/http://www.ecowasparliament.org/en/about-us |archive-date=7 March 2017 |access-date=2 February 2024 |website=ecowasparliament}}</ref> This body is headed by the Speaker of the Parliament, who is above the Secretary General.

{| class=" wikitable sortable"
|-
!Country
! Parliament Seats
|-
|{{BEN}}
|5
|-
|{{BFA}}
|6
|-
|{{CPV}}
|5
|-
|{{GMB}}
|5
|-
|{{GHA}}
|8
|-
|{{GIN}}
|6
|-
|{{GNB}}
|5
|-
|{{CIV}}
|7
|-
|{{LBR}}
|5
|-
|{{MLI}}
|6
|-
|{{NER}}
|6
|-
|{{NGA}}
|35
|-
|{{SEN}}
|6
|-
|{{SLE}}
|5
|-
|{{TGO}}
|5
|}

=== Expanded ECOWAS Commission ===
For the third time since its inception in 1975, ECOWAS is undergoing institutional reforms. The first was when it revised its treaty on 24 July 1993; the second was in 2007 when the Secretariat was transformed into a Commission. As of July 2013, ECOWAS now has six new departments (Human Resources Management; Education, Science and Culture; Energy and Mines; Telecommunications and IT; Industry and Private Sector Promotion). Finance and Administration to Sierra Leone has been decoupled, to give the incoming Ghana Commissioner the new portfolio of Administration and Conferences.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bensah |first=Emmanuel K. |url=http://www.modernghana.com/news/477274/1/communicating-the-ecowas-message-4-a-new-roadmap-f.html |title=Communicating ECOWAS Message (4): A New Roadmap for the Ouedraogo Commission(1) |publisher=Modernghana.com |date=24 July 2013 |access-date=8 August 2014 |archive-date=3 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703233031/http://www.modernghana.com/news/477274/1/communicating-the-ecowas-message-4-a-new-roadmap-f.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Community Court of Justice ===
{{main|ECOWAS Court}}

ECOWAS Community Court of Justice was created by a protocol signed in 1991 and was later included in Article 6 of the Revised Treaty of the Community in 1993.<ref name="Court">{{cite web |url=http://www.ecowascourt.org/French/texts/information.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030151400/http://www.ecowascourt.org/French/texts/information.pdf |url-status=dead |title=ECOWAS (2007) ''Information Manual: The Institutions of the Community'' ECOWAS |archive-date=30 October 2008}}</ref> However, the Court did not officially begin operations until the 1991 protocol came into effect on 5 November 1996. The jurisdiction of the court is outlined in Article 9 and Articles 76 of the Revised Treaty and allows rulings on disputes between states over interpretations of the Revised Treaty. It also provides ECOWAS Council with advisory opinions on legal issues (Article 10). Like its companion courts, the [[European Court of Human Rights]] and [[East African Court of Justice]], it has jurisdiction to rule on fundamental [[human rights]] breaches.<ref name="Court" />

=== Sporting and cultural exchange ===
ECOWAS nations organise a broad array of cultural and sports events under the auspices of the body, including the [[CEDEAO Cup]] in [[association football|football]], the [[2012 ECOWAS Games]] and the [[Miss CEDEAO]] [[Beauty contest|beauty pageant]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Miss ECOWAS 2010 |newspaper=The Economist |date=18 November 2010 |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2010/11/west_african_beauty_pageant |access-date=10 December 2010 |archive-date=16 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216080859/https://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2010/11/west_african_beauty_pageant |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Community Heads of State and Government adopted [[Lutte Traditionnelle|African Traditional Wrestling]] as the Community sport, and through its specialised agency in charge of youth and sports development, the [[Ouagadougou]]-based ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre (EYSDC), has consistently organised the yearly ECOWAS African Wrestling Tournament mainly in [[Dakar]] (Senegal) and [[Niamey]] (Niger) based on a harmonized African wrestling code.

The Community, through the EYSDC, also organized 2 editions of ECOWAS International Cycling tour, taking close to 100 riders from all member states, from [[Lagos]] to [[Accra]] and then from Lagos to [[Abidjan]]. In addition to the sports and well-being objective of the tour, the race also served to demonstrate and put into practice ECOWAS protocol on free movement of goods and persons.

In 2019, the EYSDC instituted ECOWAS Abuja International Marathon. The first edition brought together international marathoners from West Africa, [[Kenya]], [[Ethiopia]] and [[Cameroon]].

Similarly, the Community, through its specialised agency, promotes regional sports development by offering sponsorship to regional sports federations and specialized disciplines such as the West African Deaf Sports Union (WADSU), the West African Liaison Office of the International Council for Military Sports (WALO-CISM), the Region 2 of the African Athletics Federation, and the [[West African University Games]] (WAUG), among others.

=== Youth ===
The ECOWAS Youth Policy Strategic Plan of Action (SPAO) is a 10-year plan that aims to promote youth development and empowerment in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The SPAO was adopted in 2016 and is based on the pillars of education and training, employment and entrepreneurship, health and well-being, peace and security, and governance and participation.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last=State |first=Economic Community of West African |title=Ecowas youth policy and strategic plan of action |date=2010 |url=http://librarydb.unilag.edu.ng/newgenlibctxt/View?CatId=28083&OwnLibId=1&LibraryId=1&From=Library |access-date=2023-08-05 |publisher=Ecowas Commission 2010 |archive-date=5 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805154140/http://librarydb.unilag.edu.ng/newgenlibctxt/View?CatId=28083&OwnLibId=1&LibraryId=1&From=Library |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=GNA |date=2023-04-27 |title=ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre keen on globalising Traditional African Sports |url=https://gna.org.gh/2023/04/ecowas-youth-and-sports-development-centre-keen-on-globalising-traditional-african-sports/ |access-date=2023-08-05 |website=Ghana News Agency |language=en-US |archive-date=5 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805161440/https://gna.org.gh/2023/04/ecowas-youth-and-sports-development-centre-keen-on-globalising-traditional-african-sports/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The SPAO identifies a number of challenges facing youth in ECOWAS, including high unemployment rates, lack of access to education and training, and poor health outcomes. The plan sets out a number of strategies to address these challenges, including investing in education and training, creating jobs and supporting entrepreneurship, improving access to health care, promoting peace and security, and strengthening youth participation in governance.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />