ECOWAS End Mission, Scales Up Climate Resilience in Guinea-Bissau with Bold Humanitarian Mission.

By Raymond Enoch

In a significant show of solidarity and regional cooperation, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to building resilience, ensuring food security, and protecting vulnerable populations across West Africa.

Concluding a five-day Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) mission in Guinea-Bissau on Thursday, 5 September, ECOWAS officials highlighted the substantial progress made in implementing humanitarian interventions focused on accountability, disaster preparedness, and climate adaptation.

Under the mission theme, “Build Back Better and Leave No One Behind,” an estimated 18,000 individuals—predominantly women (70%)—benefited from the distribution of food and non-food items. The initiative also featured the delivery of essential disaster management equipment and the rollout of a cutting-edge digital M&E tool aimed at enhancing real-time data sharing, evidence-based policymaking, and region-wide coordination.

In furthering institutional resilience, ECOWAS supported capacity-building programs tailored to Guinea-Bissau’s national disaster management agency, signaling a long-term investment in local structures and climate-responsive governance.

As part of the mission, the ECOWAS delegation held high-level engagements with key national stakeholders, including a courtesy visit to H.E. Aladje Botche Candé, Guinea-Bissau’s Minister of Interior and Public Order, and Ambassador Ngozi Ukaeji, the ECOWAS Resident Representative. The meetings served to reinforce partnerships, review humanitarian gains, and align strategic priorities for future interventions.

The mission underscores ECOWAS’ growing role not only as a regional economic bloc but as a frontline responder to climate and humanitarian crises—delivering solutions that are people-centered, inclusive, and forward-looking.

“We are committed to ensuring no one is left behind, particularly in the face of worsening climate shocks. Guinea-Bissau is not alone,” said a representative from the ECOWAS Humanitarian Affairs Directorate.

As West Africa grapples with overlapping challenges—from food insecurity to climate-induced disasters—this mission represents a blueprint for integrated, gender-responsive, and data-driven humanitarian engagement across the region.