ECOWAS Seeks Regional Strategy To Combat Population Challenges

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has expressed concern over the challenges posed by rapid population growth across the region.

In a stakeholders’ consultation workshop held in Abuja, ECOWAS Commissioner on Human Rights and Social Affairs, Prof. Fatou Sow Sarr , said the population boom has increased demand for housing, transportation, food, and other basic services. 

“These issues further strain the coping capacity of the region as member states struggle to recover from these challenges,” Sarr said.

She said the workshop was aimed at developing a comprehensive regional resilience strategy that would enhance the collective capacity of the region to address the complex challenges facing it.

Sarr lamented that West Africa, with an estimated population of 446,452,019 equivalent to 5.47% of the total world population, was faced with a magnitude of vulnerability and exposure to hazards and losses from disasters expected to increase over the next decade. 

She cited the impact of climate change, which has caused extreme weather conditions, leading to devastating floods and drought in West Africa.

“Vulnerability is due to the high level of poverty and high dependence on climate change sensitive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, mining, and forestry leading to substantial economic losses, damage to agricultural lands, infrastructures as well as human casualties.”

Despite the development of some policies and strategies to address the issues, Sarr said the region continued to witness increasing disasters which had grossly affected key sectors of the economy and directly affected population and livelihoods.

She listed some of the strategies to include good governance, peace and security, macroeconomic resilience, equitable access to basic services, sustainable livelihood, gender sensitivity and social inclusion, and climate change and disaster risk reduction.

The Resident Representative of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nigeria, Ms. Elsie Attafuah, said the West African region was undergoing significant demographic, social, economic, environmental, and political transformations, noting that the population of the region was expected to exceed 900 million by 2050, with over 64% under 25 years old.

“These demographic changes have a bearing on the effectiveness of our current policies, resource allocation decisions, and development trajectory, demanding innovative approaches to address the needs of our youthful population.

“Despite abundant natural resources, their sustainable exploitation and equitable distribution of the benefits to communities remain a challenge,” she said.

While West Africa contributes to only 1.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the region faces rising temperatures and extreme weather events, the impacts of which are exacerbated by inadequate development and governance related challenges.