Regional Experts kick off the Development of Additional Risk Calculation Technique for the ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN)

ECOWAS experts met in Abidjan from 3 to 5 October 2023 to support the ECOWAS Early Warning Directorate in the development of an additional approach to human security risk assessment in the region.

For three days, experts in mathematics, statistics, computer science, data management and processing from universities and research centers evaluated and validated the current method of calculating security risk based on the observations of the 77 field monitors of the ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN).

These observations, made through the prism of fifty five (55) predefined conflict indicators, will enable ECOWAS and its member states to measure the threats to the livelihood of the teeming populations within the Community.

Using a scientific and methodical approach, these Experts developed additional methods for calculating human security risk based on prevention, management and crisis events collected from the ECOWARN database.

They also assessed the relevance of using other sources of data collection to complement the data collected by field monitors and the use of artificial intelligence for risk assessment in the ECOWAS region.

The workshop recommended the development of terms of reference for an in-depth study into the integrated calculation of human security risk. Furthermore, Experts highlighted the need to explore normalization, correlation, modeling and develop validation metrics for confirmation purpose.

The workshop received the visit of Madam Fanta CISSE, the ECOWAS Resident Representative in Côte d’Ivoire. Madam CISSE thanked the team of Experts for their commitment to support the development of multiple approaches to be used by the ECOWAS Early Warning System to help prevent, mitigate, and resolve crisis in the region.