KK Barrow returns from ECOWAS mission
By Cherno Omar Bobb
Hon. Kebba K. Barrow, National Assembly Member for Kombo South Constituency attended the parliamentary oversight mission to the ECOWAS national centre for coordination of the early warning and response mechanism.
The parliamentary oversight mission was held from 25th to 29th October 2022 in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Hon Kebba Barrow, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS Parliamentary Committee on Macro-Economic Policy and Economic Research in his opening remarks said the origins of the Early Warming national centres in respective Member States are in fulfillment of the provisions of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty and other Community Texts, in particular, those of Article IV of the Protocol relating to the Mechanism on Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security.
He added that the regulations require ECOWAS to put in place, a necessary mechanism to ensure regional security through a regional peace and security monitoring system.
Hon. Barrow said that the system originally consisted of a Regional Observation and Monitoring Centre based at the Headquarters of the ECOWAS Commission and four (4) Observation and Monitoring zones, each with an Office covering several Member States.
He went on to say that further evaluation in 2013 of the functioning of the mechanism led to the establishment of National centres in all Member States of which the centre represents Sierra Leone.
He also said that the Parliament has sent teams to national centres to see how they can assist in achieving timely and robust streams of information to help tackle terror within Member States and across borders.
“Insecurity has evolved into many forms with many justifications and many names,” he pointed out, while saying that the community response has no option but to keep up with the growing sophistication, diversity, and intensity of the terror threat.
Meanwhile, the mandate of the centres is to alert Governments of potential crisis threats; recommend appropriate responses to identified threats; identify response structures, both at the level of the State, the civil society, communities, and partners; and to facilitate, coordinate, and monitor the implementation of activities or actions relating to responses to threats.
COB/03/11/22
