The United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), in cooperation with UN Women, organized the annual meeting of the Working Group on Women, Youth, Peace and Security in West Africa and the Sahel, from 18 to 22 September 2023, under the theme “Unconstitutional seizure of power and transition in the Sahel region”.

Nearly 121 women and young people (54 in person and 67 online) from 17 countries in West Africa and the Sahel took part in the meeting, which opened in the presence of Major General Francis Adu-Amanfoh, Special Advisor to the President of the Republic of Ghana on the Accra Initiative, Ms Francisca Atuluk, Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr. George Amoh, Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, and Mr. Charles Abani, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Ghana. The officials recalled that UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) was the first to highlight the valuable role and essential contribution of women to peace and sustainable stability, recognizing that “women matter for peace”. “Similarly, resolution 2250 (2015) on youth, peace and security recognizes the positive contribution of young people to peace and sustainable development in their communities, humanitarian assistance and post-conflict reconstruction.” They also discussed the current security situation in the Sahel.
The 5-day meeting discussed the current political crisis in the Sahel, the development and proposal of concrete strategies for greater involvement of women and young people in current and future political dialogue, and the development of joint regional programs. Participants also discussed the synergies to be developed, coordination, partnership and better planning of their actions in line with the priorities identified. It also provided an opportunity for capacity-building in information and communication technologies.
The Working Group members also took part in the commemoration of the International Day of Peace organized by the Ghanaian chapter of the Working Group. The event underlined the urgent need for women and young people to be meaningfully involved in decision-making at all levels.
In addition, the various sessions that punctuated this annual meeting enabled Working Group members to adopt terms of reference for the establishment of a Rapid Response Team, and to formulate a series of pertinent recommendations that were the subject of a Position Statement on unconstitutional powers and the absence of women and young people from peace efforts in West Africa and the Sahel.
Working Group on Women, Youth, Peace and Security in West Africa and the Sahel is a coordination mechanism for the implementation of Resolutions 1325 (2000) and 2250 (2015), and an inclusive, multi-actor platform where women and youth become actors in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. The Working Group is coordinated by UNOWAS and UN WOMEN.Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS).

WHITE FERNS wicket-keeper batter Bernadine Bezuidenhout has been ruled out of the tour of South Africa after being diagnosed with post-viral Pericarditis.
Bezuidenhout was assessed by the team doctor in Johannesburg and underwent specialist scans that revealed the condition.
The doctor has recommended that Bezuidenhout limit physical activity for 4-6 weeks until she is fully recovered.
Bezuidenhout has been cleared to fly and will return to New Zealand next week following a short stay with family in South Africa.
WHITE FERNS head coach Ben Sawyer said the team was disappointed for Bezuidenhout.
“We’re really feeling for Bernie,” he said.
“She’s a really important part of our team so we’re all disappointed she won’t be able to take part in this tour.
“She’s a strong personality and we know she will be fully committed to her recovery and we’ll be supporting her however we can.
“We’re very grateful for the doctors here in South Africa who have taken great care of Bernie and supported her through what has been a challenging few days.”
Auckland HEARTS wicket-keeper batter Izzy Gaze who was named in the ODI squad will now remain on tour for the T20Is.

Nigeria, Ghana and about ten other African countries have vowed to raise the bar in the area of digital inclusion, enhanced security of cyberspace and innovation.
Representatives of these countries spoke to journalists at the end of the Africa Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) organised by the Nigerian government and the United Nations and hosted by NCC in Abuja with the theme: “Transforming Africa’s Digital Landscape: Empowering Inclusion, Security and Innovation.”
The Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta said the Commission would ensure that the bar is raised in the area of digital inclusion, cybersecurity and innovation.
Danbatta said in today’s Nigeria the financial inclusion strategy of the Federal Government was telco-driven.
According to him, the idea behind leveraging the telecommunications infrastructure strategy is because of the pervasive nature of telecommunications infrastructure.
“Before the mobile money penetration was 1 per cent but not anymore because after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), gave licences to four of our network operators.
“As we speak today, the Payment Service Bank (PSB), the digital financial inclusion index, has risen to about 70 per cent.
He reiterated that the Unsupplementary Structured Service Data (USSD) code which drives transactions in the banking sector was made available by NCC.
“Nowadays Nigerians do transfers without having to go to the banking halls to fill tellers.which used to be the way we are doing it before.
“This important intervention is provided in all the six geopolitical zones of the country. It is a continuous exercise and intervention.
He stated that as a Commission, NCC has a number of initiatives driving the national system of innovation.
He said that NCC empowers the younger ones, the middle aged and mature Nigerians outside these brackets, to innovate by providing Interventions of computer systems and mifi.
About the enhanced security of cyberspace, he said the NCC has the Nigerian Computer Emergency Response Team (NCERT).
The EVC said this provides advice on how telecommunication companies can take measures to protect themselves from malicious attacks within cyberspace.
“We even grade the nature of attack to be malicious, light, heavy etc,” Danbatta said.
The Secretary General (AFIGF), Samuel George, member of the Ghanaian Parliament, said it was important to have a unified African cybersecurity approach to an African problem.
George said the African Union (AU) data and policy framework had the synchronised ability to share information with the Nigerians and other African countries.
“Our military and security intelligence that just deals with security, intelligence gathering and all of that should be able to share critical information with the Nigerian military sector.
“If there is a risk that covers both Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria and they do not have similar protocols, then it affects this conversation.
“And that’s why as an African continent we need to ratify this convention because the things that were topical eight years ago in 2015 are mundane now, technology has moved on.
“So we will need to catch up with it,” George said.
On her path, the Chairperson, (AFIGF), Lillian Nalwoga said at the regional level, there have been the Africa cyber security conventions, adding that more countries were needed to be able to ascend.
Nalwoga said without determination, it would be a little bit difficult to be able to address cyber crimes at a regional level.
She also said that African countries need to have some sort of harmonisation of cybersecurity laws in their various countries to aid the fight against cyber crimes.
“We need countries that have not been able to ratify this convention to be able to resolve this and also for countries that are still lagging behind in terms of coming up with the right cybersecurity laws.
“It is not just about cybersecurity. We also need to have countries adopt data protection and privacy laws because it allows the government to do some level of surveillance.
“We need to have cybersecurity laws come up in the same framework as data protection for the rights of the citizens.
“Cybersecurity is important because it protects the citizen from non-state actors themselves, exposes citizens to risk and then from the state itself from surveillance,” she said.