The Parliament of the Economic Community Of West Africa States (ECOParl) has urged member states to redouble efforts towards enhanced health services and education across the subregion.
Quality Health Care and Education across West Africa which took the front burner in a delocalised meeting held in Conakry, Guinea, from September 3-7, 2024, with the theme “promoting health services and education in West Africa: the role of the ECOWAS Parliament”also became focal in a report presented by the joint committee for consideration and adoption at the ongoing session in Lagos, Nigeria.
The meeting brought together the joint Committee on Health/ Committee on Education, Science and Agriculture/ Committee on Telecommunications and Information Technology/ Committee on Industry and Private Sectors.
After the presentation, Parliamentarians took turns to assess and deliberate on the progress made and challenges in promoting health services and education in West Africa.
A key recommendation from the meeting is the need for parliamentarians to become actively involved in their countries’ National health and education policy programmes.
The joint committee also stressed the need for Community Parliamentarians to undertake awareness-raising, education and information campaigns for the benefit of the local population, particularly in rural areas where school enrollment, access to health facilities and telecommunications technologies remain low.
The report states that :As part of their legislative role, members of Parliament are called upon to propose or vote on bills designed to bring national legislation in line with Community provisions”.
At the level of member states, the joint committees’ report advocates health promotion policies, including ensuring that community budgets are allocated to health in line with the commitments made in the 2001 Abuja Declaration, in which governments pledged to devote 15% of their national budgets to Health.
