The ECOWAS Center for Gender Development held an institutional retreat in Saly, Senegal, from September 9 to 11, 2026, dedicated to finalizing its 2027–2029 three-year budget. This working session brought together staff from the GIABA/CCDG pool as well as two experts from the ECOWAS Commission’s Directorate of Strategic Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation. The retreat had two objectives: to support the adoption of the new Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) approach and to build the teams’ capacity to produce a budget that complies with the new guidelines and requirements of the Community budget circular.

This initiative reflects the CCDG’s commitment to consolidating its strategic and budgetary planning practices while strengthening a results-based management culture within the institution. Beyond the budgetary exercise, the work helped ensure that the CCDG’s programs, projects, and activities are fully aligned with the priorities of ECOWAS’s Vision 2050 and the Community Strategic Framework. The challenge is to ensure greater coherence between the resources mobilized, the expected results, and the desired impacts in support of gender equality, women’s empowerment, and inclusive development in member states.

At the opening of the session, Ms. Sandra OULATÉ FATTOH, Director of the CCDG, emphasized the strategic importance of this retreat for the institution’s future. According to her, this exercise represents a major opportunity to strengthen the Center’s organizational capacities, improve programming mechanisms, and adapt planning tools to new community requirements. She also emphasized the need to diversify funding sources, consolidate strategic partnerships, and anticipate the next steps related to the evaluation and renewal of the CCDG’s strategic plan.

For his part, Dr. Malick Baba DAOUDA, from the Directorate of Strategic Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation, commended the CCDG’s commitment to more rigorous and results-oriented planning. He emphasized that the quality of budget planning depends on a clear alignment between strategic objectives, performance indicators, and allocated resources. He also encouraged the CCDG to undertake an external evaluation of its current strategic plan in order to draw lessons from past achievements and prepare a new strategic framework in line with changes in the regional context.

Also speaking during the retreat, Mr. Érick GNACADJA emphasized the importance of greater integration between strategic planning, budget management, and performance monitoring. He reiterated that the effectiveness of ECOWAS specialized agencies depends on their ability to align their institutional priorities with the Community’s strategic directions, while ensuring rigorous monitoring of their results.

At the conclusion of the retreat, the CCDG reaffirmed its commitment to continuing to strengthen its institutional governance, planning mechanisms, and budget management. By investing in the professional development of its staff and the continuous improvement of its programming tools, the CCDG is equipping itself to implement more effective, better-targeted interventions that yield lasting impacts. This momentum reflects the CCDG’s ambition to remain a leading actor in promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment, and inclusive development within the West African regional community.