Advancing regional solidarity for disaster preparedness in West Africa
West Africa faces escalating and interconnected disaster risks from increasingly frequent floods and droughts to food insecurity, displacement, and insecurity. While monitoring capacity has improved, national systems are often underfunded, siloed, making cross‑border impacts harder to manage without a coherent regional approach.
To address these systemic challenges, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) organized a webinar on 16 December 2025, carried out under the European Union Humanitarian Aid–funded project titled “Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Solidarity to Reduce Disaster Impacts and Humanitarian Needs in West Africa”. The webinar brought together regional, national, and international stakeholders to strengthen Member States’ understanding of the ECOWAS cooperation and solidarity mechanisms for disaster preparedness and response, which are designed to mitigate transboundary challenges through strong regional cooperation.
The webinar had 170 participants from 39 countries. It featured sessions on notable experiences and tools for early action that have been utilised by the European Union and by various African DRR networks. The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) showcased the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, detailing how the service provides essential early warning and monitoring insights on hazards like floods, wildfires, and droughts.
These tools can effectively provide analysis reports to develop more targeted and nuanced anticipatory actions. Participants noted that for this data to be effective, it must be integrated into a harmonized regional structure. Participants discussed the challenges they have encountered in data sharing, noting that global producing centres can only provide accurate local projections if national agencies consistently share their ground-level data.
After examining the region’s technical context, discussing the existing gaps in data collection, analytics, and technological infrastructure, Member States shared their perspectives on the institutional hurdles that diminish effective disaster management. Representatives from Nigeria, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone brought attention to the varying levels of state capacity and the need for stronger legal frameworks. Other Member States noted that fragmented early warning systems are often a result of financial constraints and a lack of specialized technical personnel. The discussion underscored that early warning systems must be backed by disaster risk governance, adequate funding, and clear coordination protocols.
“We are committed to facilitating stronger linkages between university and operational institutions, supporting the review and alignment of training programs, and helping generate a critical mass of experts capable of fully leveraging the opportunities offered by Copernicus and other public goods."
Mr. Luca Rossi, Deputy Chief, UNDRR Regional Office for Africa
Regarding sustainable funding, ECOWAS and partners also committed to streamlining funding and technical support toward fewer, higher impact initiatives. Member States expressed an interest in involving the private sector in disaster risk reduction for increased financial sustainability.
Discussions also underscored the value of coordinating cross-border alerts by reinforcing the “solidarity framework,” so that an alert in one country can trigger a synchronized regional support mechanism. The European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) was presented as a model for voluntary pooling of capacities and coordinated response, while participants stressed that EU experiences should be adapted to the ECOWAS context.
“We want to thank various partners especially DG-ECHO. We will continue to strengthen this collaboration, and we want to thank all the participants and all the partner institutions for being present. [...] I promise you that this is just the beginning, this collaboration between ECOWAS and UNDRR and partners.”
Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim, Head of the Disaster Risk Management Unit, ECOWAS
Looking into the future, participants agreed to further define operational protocols and triggers for regional collective action. They felt the webinar had given practical solutions for strengthening disaster preparedness at the national level and voiced their commitments to future engagement with partners to ensure coherence across DRR, and anticipatory action investments. The webinar made clear that within this project, Member States can achieve effective and sustainable progress through regional platforms focused on capacity building training and peer support, and by drawing upon the EU knowledge networks available to them.