ECOWAS COURT AND UNHCR UNVEIL JOINT WORKPLAN FOR 2025

By: Michael Mike

The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Abuja Office, on February 7, 2025, held a coordination meeting at the Headquarters of the Court in Abuja, Nigeria to finalise and adopt a joint workplan for 2025.

The Collaboration, rooted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in July 2022, is aimed at strengthening key areas including refugee protection, statelessness, judicial capacity-building, human rights across the ECOWAS region.

The meeting opened with a review of the 2024 joint workplan, which allowed both institutions to evaluate its success and ensure it met their mutual goals. Following the assessment, the Court and the UNHCR presented and officially adopted the 2025 workplan, reinforcing their continued partnership in tackling the challenges faced by displaced persons and stateless individuals.

Key to the discussions were the proposed initiatives for the year, which include partnership coordination meetings, capacity-building initiatives, legal awareness campaigns, and joint advocacy activities. The adoption of the 2025 workplan reinforces the shared commitment of the ECOWAS Court and UNHCR to promoting access to justice and enhancing legal protections for vulnerable populations particularly displaced persons and stateless individuals in West Africa.

Highlights of the 2025 joint workplan include:

• Partnership Coordination Meetings: Regular bi-monthly meetings to monitor the implementation of joint activities and share updates on court cases relevant to UNHCR’s mandate.
• Statelessness Initiatives: Support for the implementation of international and regional instruments on statelessness, including a regional training course in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and an annual coordination meeting for statelessness focal points.
• Capacity Building and Sensitization: Joint awareness campaigns in ECOWAS Member States, training sessions for legal practitioners, and consultations on a moot court programme designed by the ECOWAS Court.
• Humanitarian Field Assessments: Fact-finding missions to refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps to gain firsthand insights into the humanitarian situation in the region.
• Judicial and Legal Framework Support: Information sessions for UNHCR country offices, NGOs, and partners on the mandate and procedures of the ECOWAS Court, as well as the development of a roster of lawyers for capacity building initiatives.
• Resource Support: Legal resources including donation of legal books to the ECOWAS Court Library and specialised training for Court staff on refugee and international humanitarian law.
  Dr Yaouza Ouro-Sama, Chief Registrar of the Court, and Mr Hervé Kuate, UNHCR Senior Liaison Adviser, ECOWAS/ECCAS, both reaffirmed their commitment to working together to protect the rights of displaced persons and stateless individuals across West Africa.
  The adoption of the 2025 joint workplan marks another milestone in their shared mission to provide legal protection and assistance to vulnerable populations in the region. The meeting was attended by participants from various departments within the ECOWAS Court and UNHCR.
• ECOWAS COURT AND UNHCR UNVEIL JOINT WORKPLAN FOR 2025

By: Bodunrin Kayode

The Chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Borno state, chapter Bishop John Bakeni has said that the biggest insecurity Nigeria is facing now as a nation is food insecurity.

He said that it was extremely dangerous for residents in the country who have been used to having surplus food to become hungry at any time in their lives either through natural or unnatural means.

Catholic auxiliary Bishop Bakeni who reviewed 2024 with this reporter recently noted that the fact that Nigerians rush for food to feed their families at this auspicious time in our economic history was a dangerous signal that food security must be fixed.

Reacting to the various loss of lives that occurred in 2024 after stampedes over food, he said that food insecurity was the greatest threat to the existence of the average Nigerian now.

“It was very unfortunate that Nigerians would have to loose their lives in such a way. It points out to something bigger towards the desperation, hunger and hardship in the land.

” You only need to go out and try to distribute anything today and watch how people will scramble for it. It would confirm what I am telling you. I don’t want to believe that it was only Catholics that were in the one that occurred in Abuja. There were many others there too because as a church our doors are always wide open for everyone.

“When people are hungry and desperate, it would be difficult for them to listen to commands and order to go about things the proper way. I think it was unfortunate that it was in that situation people had to die. But anything open like this can end up in stampede like the one that occurred in Ibadan.

“But we have not conquered poverty due to economic policies yet, there is hardship and and a lot has to be done to address these issues. Sometimes people shielded in all theses palaces may not be in tune with the reality. It’s only us that mingle that would know. And don’t forget they have 24 hours like us.

” Look, its not enough to tell a leader that your people are hungry.. You have to go out there to feel the pulse of the people yourself because the largest insecurity in this country is food insecurity. Once there is disconnect there is a problem.

“What happened in that catholic church in abuja is beyond being organized. The biggest challenge we have now is not the bandits but it has to do with food insecurity. And it is all because the economy has been adjusted today in Nigeria there by creating food insecurity.

” Food security is key to every thing affecting the residents and there is no substitute to safety and overall security of the people. Its the primary role of every leader and if you cannot fulfil this to your people then you should look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself the truth.” Said Bakeni.

Post flood message to christians as CAN chairman for 2025

Asked for his message to residents in the State, the chairman asked Christians to hold on to hope without which there would not be any need to exist.

He warned residents regardless of faith not to sink to a low level of despondency that they will discard hope which is what should carry them around at this time of economic challenges affecting the state of our nation.

“There is no doubt that 2024 was a tough year for every one. Even the high and mighties were affected by the turmoil. It was a year of hardship, hunger, insecurity, a lot of drama, natural and man made challenges that we cannot forget easily as a people.

” What I have for them is that we have to be a people of hope. Let us believe and hope in our God. We have to equally believe in our state and nation in the face of any challenge or calamity because it tells you how much we can do.

“We are a very resilient people so let’s hold on to that resilience and weather through the storm of 2025 as it comes. The Lord will see us through. There is no promise that it is going to be a bed of roses

” It is said that people can live without food for a month and water for at least a week but you cannot live without hope for a second.. The moment you loose hope and despondency sets in you lose everything. ” said Bakeni.

Food scarcity is the biggest form of insecurity…Bishop Bakeni

Zulum to scale up funding for child nutrition,
to establish Tom Brown production facility

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has announced an increase in funding to support child nutrition initiatives in the state.

This is an effort to combat food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly among children under five.

Governor Zulum made the announcement during a high-level roundtable discussion on scaling up the Tom Brown nutrient-dense product, organized by Borno State Government in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Abuja.

Tom Brown is a locally produced food supplement designed to address malnutrition among children under five and lactating mothers.

The governor also revealed plans to establish a Tom Brown production facility in the state to enhance food and nutrition security, empower farmers and create job opportunities.

“I want to assure you that Borno State will increase its funding portfolio to the child nutrition basket fund,” Governor Zulum stated, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to tackling malnutrition as part of a broader strategy to enhance social and economic resilience.

“This initiative marks a significant milestone in our efforts to combat malnutrition, strengthen food security, and create sustainable economic opportunities for our people,” he added.

According to him, Borno State has been at the forefront of initiatives designed to strengthen food security, including the Tom Brown programme in collaboration with FAO and other development partners.

The governor called on the federal government and relevant agencies to support nutrition-sensitive policies and prioritize locally produced food supplements, in alignment with the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan which emphasizes the need for integrated, multi-sectoral interventions to address food insecurity and malnutrition in Borno and across the North East.

Governor Zulum was accompanied at the event by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Dr. Babagana Mallumbe, Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Professor Baba Malam Gana, and Commissioner for Agriculture, Bawu Baba Musami.

The occassion was attended by key dignitaries, including FAO Country Representative, Dominique Koffy Kouacou, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Special Adviser to the President on Health, Dr. Salma Ibrahim Anas, and UNDP Country Representative, Elsie G. Attafuah.

Zulum to scale up funding for child nutrition,
to establish Tom Brown production facility