38th ECOWAS Summit of HEADS of States & Govt. Scheduled For Cape Verde
The 64th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Council of Ministers including Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Finance Dr. Richard K. Konteh held in Abuja the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria formally scheduled for May 31 to 1st June, finally came to an end on Wednesday 2nd June 2010, with a date( 2nd and 3rd July) and change in venue for the thirty eighth ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of States and Government, from the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the Island of Sal, Cape Verde, a draft Agenda for the thirty eighth ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of States and Government adoption of reports, deferred issues that could not be handled within the scope to that of another date prior to the Thirty Eighth Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government.
 ECOWAS Government Ministers used the two days May 31, 2010 -1st June to consider the 2010 mid-year report of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, (Ambassador James Victor Gbeho), which details the performance of the Commission and institutions of the Community, their challenges  and prospects.
“The Council also considered the report of the meeting of the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC) which, among others, contains the recommendation for an approval of a supplementary budget to be utilized for ECOWAS disaster response in Member States, vocational training and tripartite social dialogue in Member States.Â
The Ministers considered a memorandum on the progress made on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) negotiations with the European Union for a free trade area and the report of the Ministerial Monitoring Committee on the EPA negotiations which took place in Bamako, Mali early May, 2010.
The ministers called for the integration of the region’s private sector into the negotiating process since it will bear the brunt of the regional Common External Tariff (CET) that will accompany the agreement.
“They adopted the West African Common Industrial Policy (WACIP) and its action plan and considered the report of the Eighth Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on GIABA (Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in West Africa).
Furthermore, the Council endorsed the report of the 11th Ordinary Assembly of Health Ministers of
ECOWAS, held in Freetown which include a resolution on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, the harmonization of curricula for the training of nurses and midwives, the integration of primary eye care into primary health care, the road map for universal access to malaria control products and the regional framework to accelerate the reduction of maternal and child mortality in ECOWAS Member States.
They also considered the report of the meeting of Ministers in charge of Defense and Security as well as a proposed draft agenda for the mid-year summit of Heads of State and Government.Â
According to eye witness account, the sticking point for council of ECOWAS Ministers was the consideration of various memoranda, including those related to the schedule of rotation of the Chairmanship of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, the modalities for the rotation of the positions of President, Vice President and Commissioners of the ECOWAS Commission, the allocation of four positions of Judges of the Community Court of Justice to Member States as well as the allocation of the position of President of the ECOWAS Parliament to a Member State. The deliberation which went unto 3; 46 AM of Wednesday was inevitably deferred to the same day Wednesday 1600hrs GMT after an ad-hoc committee of three including Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria was formed.
By 22 Hours GMT of Wednesday June 3, 2010, a draft Agenda of the Thirty Eighth Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government was adopted.
Members of the Sierra Leone delegation include Deputy Development Secretary Mrs. Fatmata Mustapha from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Director of Reintegration Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. John Borbor Laggah.Â
Pasco Gerald Temple, Information Attaché, Sierra Leone High Commission, Abuja, Nigeria
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