By Abdul Malik Bangura
As he continues to step up efforts to address fundamental issues bordering on the welfare of residents within the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) region, the Speaker of the regional ECOWAS Parliament, His Excellency Sidie Mohamed Tunis, on Saturday 14th November 2020, landed in the city of Lome, Capital of the Republic of Togo to attend the third (3rd) delocalized meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committee.
Participants of the meeting, which is ongoing in Togo, starting from the 17th November to end on the 21st November 2020, comprise regional Members of Parliament (MPs) who are discussing the most important theme of: “ECOWAS in the Era of COVID 19 and Beyond: Focusing on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to Promote Distance Education and Training in the ECOWAS Member States”.
Upon his arrival around midday at the Étienne Eyadéma Gnassingbé International Airport in Lome, HE Tunis ,during a brief press meeting, said his delegation is in Togo to chart the way forward on how ICT can be used during this coronavirus pandemic to sustain the educational sector in the ECOWAS region.
He said the ECOWAS Parliament during the coming days will bring together experts in ICT to develop meaningful recommendations that will help the region in the future in the event of any pandemic.
“As representatives of the people of the Community, we will ensure that the outcomes of this session are fully implemented,” the ECOWAS Parliament Speaker assured.
Meanwhile, the 3rd Committee meeting follows two (2) other Committee meetings which were all held in this month of November 2020.
It could be recalled that earlier, the ECOWAS Parliament under the direct leadership of the Speaker ,HE Sidie Mohamed Tunis, from 3rd to 7th November held a Joint Committee meeting in Cotonou, Benin to discuss: “Africa Continental Free Trade Area, How feasible in the Face of Cross-Border Threats: Terrorism and Insecurity, Pandemics, Protectionism”.
Furthermore, the meeting in Cotonou was followed by another Joint Committee meeting in Bissau, Republic of Guinea Bissau, also under the direct supervision of the ECOWAS Parliament Speaker with the theme “ECOWAS Food Security; Agricultural Production and the Fight Against COVID 19”.
The 3rd Meeting which is holding in Lome is focusing on ICT to promote distance learning in the era of COVID 19. The importance of this discussion by regional MPs cannot be over emphasised for an ECOWAS Region where the educational sector has been seriously affected by the global COVID 19 pandemic since all Member States had to close schools and colleges in order to observe social distancing as one of the precautionary measures set up to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
As a result, several educational institutions turned to the modern ICT platform in the form of videoconference to enhance dissemination of vital information and also organised teaching programs without physical contacts.
According to Save the Children, there is fear for the future of millions of children, as more than 120,000,000 (one hundred and twenty thousand) children and students are currently out of school in West and Central Africa. Almost all countries had introduced nationwide school and university closures to contain the Covid-19 virus.
While the focus of the COVID 19 response is mainly on health systems, the pandemic is already having a devastating impact on children beyond that. In an attempt to maintain the COVID 19 pandemic, Governments are closing schools across the world.
This situation could further worsen the vulnerabilities of marginalized children within West and Central Africa and especially in the Sahel, says Save the Children.
