2024 WACSOF PEOPLES FORUM

9^th – 10^th October 2024

The WACSOF Peoples Forum is a very important tool for mobilizing civil society to contribute to regional integration and development in West Africa. It is a gathering of representatives of West African CSOs and partners under the auspices of WACSOF. In accordance with Article 6(3) (a) of the WACSOF Charter, the Peoples Forum is the supreme policy organ of WACSOF to provide sustained guidance to the Secretariat in implementing the organization’s mandate. The Peoples Forum meets every 2 years to convene a General Assembly, which is a forum to review WACSOF’s impact and institutional effectiveness along the following key lines:

• A review of the results and outcomes of WACSOF’s programs and activities towards increasing their relevance and impact;
• Review of the organization’s policies and strategies to identify and address critical operational issues that affect organizational effectiveness and efficiency;
• Renewing the mandate of its governance structures through the election of a new Executive Committee (Administrative Board); and,
• Identification of new priorities to inform its work over a period of 2 years through analytical discussions of the prevailing regional context of West Africa

It has been 8 years since the last WACSOF Peoples Forum was convened in 2016. This situation has created a gap in the organization’s normal institutional development process, creating a situation that leaves the institution struggling to assert its relevance and impact. This fundamental institutional challenge also leaves WACSOF gradually descending into the abyss

of ineffectiveness that demands urgent attention. It is within this context that the 2024 WACSOF Peoples Forum shall be convened on 9^th -10^th October 2024 under the theme, “Strengthening WACSOF for greater impact in an ECOWAS of Peoples.”

Goal and Objectives of the 2024 WACSOF Peoples Forum

The overall goal of the 2023 WACSOF Peoples Forum is to initiate a process of institutional renewal for WACSOF through a refresh of the organization’s leadership and the adoption of key priorities for deepening the organization’s impact into the future.

Specific objectives of the Forum include the following:

1. To adopt a practical and indicative roadmap for increasing the overall institutional effectiveness of WACSOF including the strengthening of its institutional set-up and deepening the relevance of its engagement
2. To select new Executive Committee Members for effective policy-level guidance and oversight in the implementation of the organization’s activities and programs

Description of Activities

In relation to the theme of institutional strengthening, the forthcoming WACSOF Peoples Forum will not just be an event that takes place during the officially designated meeting days. It would build-up from the national level and come together at the regional level during the official two meeting days of the Peoples Forum. Hence, the process shall begin with a set of pre-forum national consultations.

Below is a description of the sequence of activities to be carried out as part of the 2024 WACSOF Peoples Forum activities:

1. Pre-Forum National Consultations
2. Main Sessions of the WACSOF Peoples Forum

Pre-Forum National Consultations

In the build up to the 2024 WACSOF Peoples Forum, the WACSOF Secretariat in collaboration with the Members of the Planning and Organizing Committee from each country

shall carry out a series of Pre-Forum National Consultative Meetings to lay a solid path towards the conduct of an inclusive 2024 WACSOF Peoples Forum. These national Consultations shall serve the purpose of effectively examining the national conditions of each country as well as isolate the key priorities of civil society in the different countries. The national consultations, which will take place between 10^th September 2024 and 8^th October 2024 for all the countries and shall have the following objectives:

1. To examine different aspects of the national contexts in the different countries and identify key emerging issues and entry points for civil society engagement.
2. To review the thoughts and perspectives of civil society concerning the various challenges that WACSOF is currently facing.
3. To select delegates that shall represent each country during the main sessions of the WACSOF Peoples Forum
4. To elect Members that shall represent the different countries on the executive Committee (this objective is mainly for countries that are eligible to take up seats in the WACSOF Executive Committee, including Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Gambia, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau).

Insights from these national level meetings will be synthesized into a summary report that shall be presented during the main sessions of the WACSOF Peoples Forum on 9^th & 10^th October 2024.

Main Sessions of the 2024 WACSOF Peoples Forum

The WACSOF Peoples Forum would hold in accordance with the following configuration:

Day 1: 9^th October 2024 [11:00 GMT – 15:00 GMT]

• Session 1[15 Minutes]: Opening Session
• Session 2 [45 Minutes]: Discussion on the theme: WACSOF – Past, Present and Future (It will underscore the history, evolution and current challenges of WACSOF and provide suggestions for the Way Forward) – by General Secretary
• Session 3 [60 Minutes]: Discussion of issues in the National context of each country (Summary reports of national level consultations, including announcement of nominations of New Executive Committee Members) – by Members of the Planning and organizing committee from each country;
• Health Break [15 Minutes]
• Session 4 [45 Minutes]: Review of contextual developments in West Africa with relevance to civil society engagement;

• Session 5 [20 Minutes]: General Commentary;
• Session 6 [10 Minutes]: Closing Session

Day 2: 10^th October 2024 [11:00 GMT – 13:00 GMT]

• 1^st Meeting of the New Executive Committee: Meeting shall be to discuss and adopt key priorities for WACSOF going forward, based on discussions during the Peoples Forum

Click to access Concept Note: [link to the concept https://wacsofoscao.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=19361&action=editnote]

Click to register for the event [link to registration form/ meeting link]