According to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, good government depends on including citizens in the decision-making process.
This was said on Tuesday in Abuja during the project’s “Mobile Application on Citizens Participation for Accountable and Inclusive Democracy (C-PAID) in West Africa” launch. Vice President of the Commission Damtien Tchintchibidja.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) jointly developed the mobile application.
According to NAN, C-PAID’s main goals were to support inclusive participation and development while promoting good governance and democracy across West Africa.
In order to improve access to good governance and development in West Africa, an online toolkit and mobile application have been developed.
Tchintchibidja’s keynote presentation was
As she reflected on the condition of government in West Africa, she noted that the need for inclusive and responsible governance has proliferated.
According to her, the mobile app supported and connected with the ECOWAS Vision 2050 as a genuine digital instrument to create opportunities for ongoing conversation on inclusive and responsible governance.
The success of the five Vision 2050 pillars depends on the cooperation of Member States and their inhabitants because they are interconnected and form a chain of dependency.
It aims to advance an inclusive society with a focus on the most vulnerable populations, particularly women and young people.
“Recent developments in West Africa have raised concerns about long-term peace and stability,” the vice president continued.
The region’s predominate state-citizen interaction has been related to the call for inclusive and accountable governance, which has gained popular discourse.
Our united objective of creating a “ECOWAS of the People, thus providing Peace and Prosperity for All” by 2050 is influenced by these issues as a commission.
She claims that data on poverty, insecurity, and underdevelopment are getting worse in West Africa.
“While other unrelated political, economic, and social factors are acknowledged to play a role in these governance challenges, a growing trust gap between governments and citizens has resulted from this,” says the report.
Also addressing, Mr. Chukwuemeka Eze, Executive Director of WANEP, stated that the C-PAID project aims to develop procedures for the evaluation of good governance in West Africa.
In many nations on the continent, he claimed, the idea of democracy—the rule of the people, by the people, and for the people—has progressively waned in recent years.
“The democratic processes in West Africa are hampered by limitations and difficulties related to the holding of elections and adherence to constitutional rules.
These difficulties have impeded citizens’ ability to participate more fully in governance, including holding officials accountable and keeping track of good governance metrics.
However, he advocated for a thorough overhaul of the practises, values, and tenets that support democracy and sound governance.
For his part, Mr. Lealem Dinku, acting Resident Representative of UNDP-Nigeria, claimed that the region’s severe insecurity was a result of regional power struggles, domestic politics, and poor governance.
He asserted that including citizens in governance processes promotes openness, increases accountability, and enhances the management of public resources.
