The workshop aims, among other things, to inform the stakeholders on the project's progress and to draw recommendations and actions towards governments in regional integrations and other key stakeholders aiming to facilitate the free movement of women across borders in the framework of the Ecowas Protocol.
The gender dimension in the Ecowas Protocol on the Free Movement of People and Goods, initiated by WAWA with the financial support of the Ecowas Spanish Fund, started operations since January 2012 and involves Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Mali.
In her welcoming remarks at the opening, Mam Sai Njie-Sanneh, the president of WAWA Gambia Chapter, said that the 1970s economic crisis negatively impacted on the lives of women and made them to turn more on cross-border trading to feed their families.
She noted that the women actors in the cross-border trading do not have good knowledge of the legal texts governing the free movement of people and goods signed by their governments and think that regional integration is a concept devoid of meaning.
"Transporters, in spite of the many bilateral and multi-lateral agreements signed among Ecowas 15 members states, also suffer from little decent treatment from the security forces and the Customs, since most police officers, Customs officers and Gendarmes do not know the Ecowas treaties and give priority to their local legislations," she stated.
Based on what has been highlighted above, she added, the West African Women Association in collaboration with the Gambia Chapter organised the confab in order to inform the stakeholders on the project's progress, results and lessons learnt as well as draw up recommendations to facilitate the free movement of women cross-border traders in the framework of the Ecowas Protocol.
Njie-Sanneh urged participants during their deliberation to come up with tangible recommendations for the free movement of people, goods and service in the Ecowas sub-region. She expressed sincere appreciation to the Gambian leader for empowering women. She also thanked the vice president and minister of Women's Affairs for her support and assistance during the preparations for the workshop.
Hon. Haddy Nyang-Jagne, who deputised for the deputy speaker of the National Assembly opined that the concept of gender is inextricably linked to development. She said it is evident that if the world is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) solutions must be found to address the status quo and confront the challenge of building inclusive societies where the rights of all persons are protected and where they all participate in the decision-making processes that affect their lives.
"In addition to awareness creation and advocacy work, these kind of workshops is one of the key activities that will support efforts to mainstream gender and to equally respond to women and men needs at all stages of the development process," she added.
Drawing inspiration from regional and international protocols and conventions, Jagne said the workshop will support gender training activities to bring about changes in attitudes and behaviours that strengthen the vision, capacity and processes needed to bring about responsive development programmes and projects.
Looking into the Ecowas programmes for integration, Hon. Nyang-Jagne said the principle underlying the cardinal programmes of Ecowas was founded on achieving policy and structural convergence. She said principal among them were free movement of goods and persons; trade liberalisation and the establishment of a Customs Union, Ecowas Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) and Common External Tariff (CET); Ecowas Monetary Co-operation Programme (EMCP); development of Infrastructure; implementation of common policies in agriculture, environment, management of water resources and consolidation of peace, democracy and the promotion of good governance. According to her, these frameworks are expected to boost intra-regional trade and factor mobility, enhance investment and growth and create the necessary conditions for the operation of a monetary union.
"Free Movement of Persons and Goods, is one of the fundamental areas the region has paid great attention to in its integration agenda. Inline with this, the Ecowas Protocol provides for free movement of its citizens and the right to live and settle and do business in any part of its territory. This is predicated on the theory that migration aids development and mobility of persons, goods and capital which is a vital component in promoting trade, produce labour and financial markets integrates Ecowas has therefore been busy putting in place various initiatives in this area," she stated.
Hon. Nyang-Jagne cited as an example, the abolition of visa, introduction of the Ecowas Passport, Ecowas Drivers License, Ecowas Brown Card, the planned introduction of a Shengen type visa within Ecowas member states. She said the onus is on the women to continue dialogue with key stakeholders, security services, civil society, road transport workers and also conduct research and studies to achieve this objective.
"Furthermore, continued actions for the development and promotion of tourism in Ecowas as well as cross-border cooperation should also be encouraged," she added. She acknowledged the untiring efforts of the Gambian leader, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh in creating the enabling environment for women to progress and to realise their potential.
For his part, Eduardo Romero, representative of Spain to The Gambia said that his country supports anything connected with migration in West Africa, adding that they want people to stay and develop Africa. He disclosed that they have a number of projects in West Africa and about eight projects in Senegal, while expressing hope that the free movement of people and goods will help integrate the region.
Khady Fall Tall, the WAWA regional president; and Fanta Dissa Berthe of WAWA, Republic of Mali, both thanked President Jammeh for his support to women.