By Kebba AF Touray
The Parliament of the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS Parliament), on Tuesday, 3rd September 2024, commenced another delocalized meeting in Guinea Conakry to promote education and health service delivery.
The meeting is being held by the Community Parliament’s joint committee on Health, Education, Science and Culture, Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Industry and the Private Sector.
The overall objective of the meeting is to raise awareness among MPs on health care services and education to enable them to contribute significantly to the promotion of health policies in ECOWAS member States.
The theme of the Conakry delocalize meeting is “Promoting education and health services in West Africa: the role of the ECOWAS Parliament,”
Hon. Fanta Conte, Head of Guinean Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, in her remarks, said that themeeting is of the utmost importance for the Guinean population, which has been severely affected in the recent past by the Ebola virus disease, COVID-19, and is currently exposed to monkeypox.
She said that the democratic practice is a concrete expression of the migration from an ECOWAS of States to an ECOWAS of peoples.
“It is also proof that our institution is in tune with the profound aspirations of the people while remaining committed to respecting its rules and principles,” she said.
Co-Chair of the Joint Committee, Hon. Orlando Dias Pereira, said “Given the present situation in our region, integration and cooperation are more of a requirement than an option, and unilateralism has little prospect for success.”
On an inter-institutional level, he said that the appropriation of health policies by parliamentarians is the keystone of the new strategy to ending the health crisis in the ECOWAS region.
Parliamentarians, he said, must therefore be involved at the earliest possible stage in the development and implementation of national health sector strategies, as part of a wide-ranging consultation process with stakeholders.
The aim, he informed, is to consult all the stakeholders at the same time: civil society, technical and financial partners, and central, regional, and decentralized managers from the Ministries of Public Health and National Education.
“Parliamentarians must therefore, be able to translate these national strategies into plans to support and promote health education, focusing on results and incorporating a system of prioritization, as expressed in the health development and promotion plans,” he said.
He outlined that the presentations will be made during the meeting, which will enable them to obtain specific details of the various interventions of the ECOWAS Commission in the region and gather information on the health policies applied in the various interventions aimed at ensuring a better quality of health.
“The presentations will enable us to have the opportunity to draw lessons from the successful interventions and programs in Member States for further implementation in their own countries. We will have the opportunity to visit a number of health and education facilities,” he said.
He expressed his conviction that the recommendations that emerge from our work will guide policymakers in the right direction towards promoting health care services and education in West Africa.
At the end of the meeting, the joint committee will develop a report, containing its recommendation which will be presented to the Community Parliament during its forthcoming ordinary session, for adoption.
