The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), through its Directorate of Peacekeeping and Regional Security (DPKRS), in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), is holding a three-day Workshop on the Development of a Protection of Civilians (PoC) Policy for ECOWAS Peace Support Operations from 3rd to 5th March 2026 in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
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The workshop aims to develop a comprehensive and operationally grounded Protection of Civilians policy that will strengthen ECOWAS\u2019 capacity to prevent and mitigate harm to civilian populations during Peace Support Operations (PSOs). The engagement provides a platform to review relevant regional and international frameworks and generate practical recommendations tailored to ECOWAS\u2019 operational realities.<\/p>\n
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The opening ceremony featured remarks from senior representatives of ECOWAS and the ICRC. Delivering the opening remarks on behalf of the Director of Peacekeeping and Regional Security, Dr. Cyriaque P. Agnekethom, ECOWAS reaffirmed its commitment to institutionalizing preventive measures that minimize incidental harm and integrate civilian protection considerations into mission planning, rules of engagement, training, command responsibility, civil-military coordination, and accountability mechanisms. He emphasized that the legitimacy, credibility, and effectiveness of ECOWAS Peace Support Operations depend significantly on the trust and confidence of the populations they are mandated to protect.<\/p>\n
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In his welcome remarks, the Deputy Head of Delegation of the ICRC underscored the importance of developing a policy framework that translates international humanitarian and human rights obligations into practical operational guidance. He noted that civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed conflicts, terrorism, and other situations of violence, and stressed that respecting International Humanitarian Law (IHL) remains fundamental to sparing civilian lives, safeguarding essential services, and enabling humanitarian actors to operate safely.<\/p>\n
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He further highlighted the ICRC\u2019s longstanding partnership with ECOWAS institutions, including technical support in strengthening IHL implementation, collaboration with the ECOWAS Standby Force through workshops and training sessions, and assistance in the development of doctrines and standards aimed at enhancing civilian protection. He commended ECOWAS for its proactive engagement in developing a dedicated Protection of Civilians policy as part of its broader commitment to upholding humanitarian principles within the region.<\/p>\n
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Participants drawn from ECOWAS Member States, the ECOWAS Commission, and the ICRC will, over the course of the workshop, examine relevant instruments including African Union and United Nations Protection of Civilians policies. The deliberations are expected to produce practical recommendations that will inform the drafting and eventual adoption of an ECOWAS Protection of Civilians Policy.<\/p>\n
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The workshop reflects ECOWAS\u2019 continued efforts to strengthen its peace and security architecture in the face of evolving threats, including terrorism and other forms of violent extremism, while ensuring that the protection of civilians remains central to regional peace support interventions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), through its Directorate of Peacekeeping and Regional Security (DPKRS), in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), is holding a three-day Workshop on the Development of a Protection of Civilians (PoC) Policy for ECOWAS Peace Support Operations from 3rd to 5th March 2026 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":126798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[300,12,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-news","category-news","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126801,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126797\/revisions\/126801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/126798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}