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Africa: Ecowas Parliament Meets to Advance Child Protection in West Africa

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Africa: Ecowas Parliament Meets to Advance Child Protection in West Africa


The ECOWAS Parliament will convene a joint committee meeting in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from 8 to 12 April, 2026, to advance the protection of children in the West African sub-region.

The gathering will bring together the committees on Social Affairs, Gender, Women Empowerment & Persons with Disabilities; Legal Affairs and Human Rights; Trade, Customs and Free Movement; and Political Affairs, Peace, Security and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

The meeting is being convened under the theme “Parliamentary Approaches to Safeguarding Children in Street Situations and Addressing Child Exploitation in the ECOWAS Region.”

The theme is consistent with the institution’s mandate of legislative oversight to promote Member States’ effective implementation of ECOWAS child protection commitments, according to a statement by the organisation on Tuesday.


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Member States have adopted the ECOWAS Child Policy and Strategic Plan of Action (2019-2030) and the ECOWAS Gender Strategy, both of which provide normative frameworks for preventing and responding to child vulnerability across the region.

However, across West Africa, economic insecurity, rapid urbanisation, displacement, and recurring humanitarian crises have contributed to a growing number of children living or working on the streets.

“These children tend to face serious and compounding risks — including exploitation, hazardous labour, violence, substance abuse, and limited access to essential protection services,” the statement said.

Though legal frameworks exist in many Member States, inconsistencies in implementation, resource constraints, and weak cross-sector coordination continue to reduce their effectiveness.

In a region marked by porous borders and significant intra-regional mobility, differences in legal standards, child protection procedures, data systems, and enforcement capacity can create dangerous protection gaps — particularly for children who cross borders or engage in informal economic activities.

The ECOWAS Parliament, therefore, said there is a clear need for harmonised legislative approaches, enhanced parliamentary oversight, and strengthened inter-parliamentary collaboration to ensure that regional commitments translate into tangible safeguards for children of West Africa.

Members of the Parliamentary Joint Committee and other participants at the meeting are expected to review Sierra Leone’s national strategies and service delivery systems as a model for broader application across ECOWAS Member States.