Joel Ajayi

The West African Civil Society Forum WACSOF has elected new Board of Directors, members who are made up of women and men with proven expertise, solid networks of contacts, and high moral and intellectual probity.

WACSOF is the apex civil society network in West Africa, covering 18 thematic areas, with representation in 15 West African countries.

The general was held in an Hybride mode with participants from countries  covered by WACSOF on  the  Thursday, June 30th,  during General Assembly (People’s Forum) of the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) the Platforms coordinators of the 15 ECOWAS countries constitute the People’s Forum of WACSOF at the Cotonou Bourse du Travail, in Benin Republic.

After the Opening Ceremony of General Assembly, a presidium of 2 members was set up with Mr NANA Osei of ECOSOCC as President and Mrs Rosa EDOH of the NGO Happy Children as secretary.

After the presentation of the participants, the validation of the agenda, the summary presentation of the WACSOF management report, the WACSOF charter of 2003 in Accra, was amended, article by article and adopted by the participants according to the recommendations of the 6th general assembly of WACSOF in 2016.

The draft revised Charter, having been initially prepared by various specialists who worked on it, since 2018 with the outgoing Executive Committee. A charter committee made up of coordinators from several ECOWAS countries has been set up to work on it as well and submit it to this WACSOF general assembly.

Also, participants noted and took note of the fact that the mandate of the outgoing Executive Committee, elected on August 16, 2016, has ended since August 2020, in accordance with article 9 of the WACSOF charter and internal regulations. The Peoples’ Forum therefore gave discharge to the outgoing executive committee.

General Assembly was also the opportunity for the renewal of the governing bodies of WACSOF, with the election of a new Board of Directors composed of 7 members in accordance with the provisions of the revised charter of June 30th, 2022.

However, the Board of Directors newly elected on June 30 is made up of women and men with proven expertise, solid networks of contacts, and high moral and intellectual probity.

To avoid any form of conflict of interest, the function of member of a WACSOF body is incompatible with that of member of another body of WACSOF. The bodies of WACSOF are; the General Assembly (People’s Forum), Board of directors, The Executive Direction, National Platforms, thematic groups.

The newly elected Board members are: Mrs Bernice Banybah, Épse Noudegbessi: Dr in Human Rights/Legal Studies, UNESCO / UAC Chair; Expert in Gender, Gender-Based Violence and Human Rights (BENIN), Ms. Penda Mbow;  Experienced Woman, Activist, Former Minister. Professor at the CHEIKH ANTA DIOP University of Dakar and president of the citizen movement, (Senegal);  Mr. Kangni Afanou, Jurist, and journalist. He is “CCPR (Centre For Civil And Political Rights) coordinator for West and Central Africa, (Togo).

other Board members include;  Mr. Buba Khan, Senior Consultant. Former Continental Advocacy Coordinator for Actionaid International, (Gambia);  Mr. Huco Joao Jose Silva Monteiro, Former ECOWAS Commissioner, Human Resources; (Guinnea-Bissau); Mr. Jeddlee Stephens Kinnii, National Coordinator Of Liberian African Youth Peer Review Committee, (Liberia)  and Ms. Josephine Alabi, Activist, Peace and Security, Kin Care (Nigeria).

In his welcome speech, the General Secretary of WACSOF, Mr Komlan Messie commended the commitment of all the participants to the cause of WACSOF and specified the context in which this People’s Forum is organized.

Meanwhile, in her introductory remarks, the representative of the ECOWAS National Office in Benin Mrs. Arlette AHAMIDÉ stressed the need for civil society to regularly organize its statutory meetings for the vitality and the legitimacy of this sub-regional general assembly, then gave her full support for its smooth running.

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