PAPEV Strategic Planning Meeting

ECOWAS AND ITS PARTNERS ARE PLANNING ACTIVITIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGIONAL DIMENSION OF THE PROJECT TO SUPPORT THE PROTECTION OF CHILD VICTIMS OF VIOLATIONS OF THEIR RIGHTS (PAPEV) IN WEST AFRICA.

Dakar, January 30, 2020. The implementation of the regional dimension of the Support Project for the Protection of Child Victims of Rights Violations (PAPEV) officially started this Thursday, January 30, 2020 with the strategic planning meeting at the conference room of the Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in Dakar, Senegal. The opening ceremony of the meeting was chaired by Dr. Bolanlé ADETOUN, Director of the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC), representing Dr. Siga Fatima JAGNE, ECOWAS Commissioner for Social and Gender Affairs.

The meeting was attended by several representatives of regional partner institutions working in the field of child protection, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Senegalese Ministries of Children and Justice, the NGO ENDA Tiers-Monde, the International Social Service-West Africa (ISS-WA) and the West Africa Child Protection Network (RAO). The main objective of this 2-day meeting is to exchange with the regional child protection organisations on the provisions and strategies for the implementation of the AHSEP in the 6 beneficiary countries, in order to assess their level of understanding and knowledge of the project, but also to develop together a joint work programme for the implementation of the initiative.

As a reminder, the EPADP is an initiative of the Regional Office for West Africa of the OHCHR, implemented by ECOWAS through its Operational Centre in charge of Gender, the CCDG.  It is funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. The project, which concerns six ECOWAS countries, namely Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger and Senegal, aims to strengthen initiatives already undertaken against child exploitation and abuse at the national level, which need to be sustained through an integrated regional approach. Its objective is to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs, particularly MDGs 16 and 5, through the implementation of the recommendations of international and regional mechanisms for the protection of children's rights aimed at creating a safe and just environment for child victims of violations of their rights and their legal, judicial and social care in the ECOWAS region.

Three (3) main activities are programmed in the component entrusted to the CCDG: strengthening or supporting the creation of child protection centres; carrying out a pilot project that will involve the 6 beneficiary countries in order to develop experiences and good practices for the promotion of the return of child victims of trafficking; and finally, intensive advocacy with decision-makers to support the reform processes and child protection laws in West Africa.