From February 2 to 5, 2026, the government of Sierra Leone and the ECOWAS Resident Representative Office conducted a District Sensitization and Stakeholder Engagement Tour across four districts in Sierra Leone. The tour was part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its focus on people-centered integration.
The delegation was led by Madam Kenyeh Barlay, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, along with H.E. Ambassador John Azumah, ECOWAS Resident Representative to Sierra Leone. Senior officials from the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, the ECOWAS National Office, an ECOWAS Political Advisor, a senior official from the National Early Warning and Response Mechanism Centre (NEWRMC), and a representative from the Ministry of Trade and Commerce also participated.
The tour included visits to Kambia District (Kambia), Koinadugu District (Kabala), Tonkolili District (Magburaka), and Kono District (Koidu). It featured school sensitization sessions in two secondary schools per district where students learned about ECOWAS’ mandate, history, peace efforts, education initiatives, youth empowerment programs, and regional integration. These sessions involved interactive discussions that allowed students to engage directly with members of the delegation.
District-level stakeholder meetings followed each school engagement. Participants included local authorities, traditional leaders, civil society organizations, youth and women’s groups, security personnel, traders, persons with disabilities (PWD), and media representatives. Discussions focused on ECOWAS’ role in peacekeeping and security efforts; democratic governance; trade facilitation; employment for youth; women’s empowerment; food security; and economic integration within the region—topics aligned with “ECOWAS Vision 2050: ECOWAS of the People – Peace and Prosperity for All.”
In her remarks during these engagements, Madam Kenyeh Barlay stated: “the strong alignment between ECOWAS’ regional priorities and Sierra Leone’s national development agenda,” emphasizing Sierra Leone’s active participation in regional affairs. Ambassador John Azumah added: “ECOWAS’ commitment to strengthening peace, security, and socio-economic development placing people at the center of development,” highlighting that regional integration should bring real benefits to citizens.
Representatives from NEWRMC contributed insights on preventive diplomacy and community-level security strategies. The Ministry of Trade and Commerce addressed questions about trade instruments such as the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) as well as frameworks for integrating regional markets.
According to participants across all four districts visited during this initiative, there was significant engagement from stakeholders who expressed appreciation for ECOWAS’ ongoing support toward Sierra Leone’s stability and growth. Feedback collected during these meetings is expected to inform future programming by ECOWAS at both district- and national-levels.
The Economic Community of West African States works toward advancing cooperation among member states through harmonized policies in areas like trade policy alignment via common external tariffs; transport infrastructure; agriculture; social development initiatives; legal systems harmonization; as well as programs covering twelve West African countries with plans for broader reach (source). The organization is governed by a president supported by other executive officers (source), operates a multilingual website launched in 2022 for transparency (source), influences policy across sectors including infrastructure (source), holds authority under its treaty to align frameworks among member states (source).