ECOWAS UNVEILS PIONEERING DIGITAL GENDER ECOSYSTEM IN SENEGAL. -New platform to transform real-time data, coordination and advocacy on gender equality across West Africa
By Raymond Enoch
On Monday, the 24thday of November 2025, in the coastal city of Saly, Senegal, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will take a decisive step toward digitally transforming its gender agenda with the official launch of the Digital Ecosystem of the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC).
The five-day regional workshop, running from 24 to 28 November 2025, will bring together Gender Focal Points from Member States, ECOWAS staff, civil society actors, development partners, and representatives of the “50 Million African Women Speak” project to deepen their capacity to use and institutionalise this new suite of digital tools.
At the heart of the initiative is a robust, interconnected system built around five core components: a redesigned EGDC website, the ECOGO gender observatory, a secure virtual workspace, an artificial intelligence platform, and an EGDC web security command centre. Together, these tools are expected to redefine how gender data is collected, analysed, and shared across West Africa, while promoting real-time collaboration and evidence-based policymaking.
ECOWAS officials say the digital ecosystem is designed to close long-standing gaps in reliable gender data and fragmented reporting systems. By offering an integrated platform that tracks gender indicators, supports virtual coordination, and deploys AI for smarter analysis and decision support, the EGDC aims to give policymakers, advocates, and practitioners a powerful new instrument to accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment in the sub-region.
Participants at the Saly workshop will receive hands-on training on each component of the ecosystem — from navigating the ECOGO Observatory and uploading field data, to collaborating in the virtual workspace and leveraging AI-driven insights to inform programmes and policies. The inclusion of a dedicated web security command centre underlines ECOWAS’ commitment to safeguarding sensitive gender data and ensuring digital resilience in an era of growing cyber threats.
By convening Member States, ECOWAS institutions, regional projects and civil society around a shared digital platform, the Saly workshop is expected to cement the institutionalisation of these tools and foster a stronger, more coherent regional response to gender-based inequalities. For ECOWAS, the launch of the EGDC Digital Ecosystem signals not only a technological upgrade, but a strategic shift toward a more connected, data-driven and collaborative future for gender and development in West Africa.
