Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) High Level Humanitarian Mission Delivers Humanitarian Assistance to Victims of Disasters in The Republic of Guinea

An ECOWAS High Level mission arrived in Conakry, the Republic of Guinea on Sunday, 14th January 2024 to deliver humanitarian assistance to victims of the recent fuel dump explosion which resulted in loss of lives, injuries, damage to properties and forced displacement of residents of parts of Conakry, the capital city.

On 19th December 2023, the residents of Kaloum Quarters in the Capital city woke up to a massive explosion from the major fuel dump in the city resulting in loss of lives, injuries damage to properties, forced displacement and eventual loss of livelihood for the residents of the affected zone in Conakry.

The President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency, Dr Alieu Omar Touray responded to the devastation by approving a high-level mission led by the Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs, Professor Fatou Sow Sarr. The Mission included the Director of Humanitarian and Social Affairs, the Director of Administration and General Services, the Executive Assistant to the Commissioner and a technical officer from the Directorate of Humanitarian and Social Affairs. During the 4 days mission, the team, supported by the ECOWAS Resident Representative to Guinea, met high level representatives of the Government.

The ECOWAS High level mission delivered a condolence and solidarity message to the Government and People of the Republic of Guinea and reaffirmed the ECOWAS Commission’s commitment to accompany the Government of Guinea in its efforts to build community resilience to disasters and catastrophic events. Prof. Fatou Sow Sarr recalled the historical linkage of Guinea to not only the West Africa region but the entire Africa at large and expressed the value ECOWAS accords to this relationship. The Commissioner then announced the donation of humanitarian relief materials including food, medication, emergency shelter among others to the tune of  One Hundred Thousand United States Dollars ($100,000) by the ECOWAS Commission.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and Guineans Abroad, His Excellency Dr. Morissanda Kouyate received the ECOWAS message on behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Guinea. The Minister recognised the importance of ECOWAS to the region and acknowledged the need to continue to belong to this important organisation which is a fulcrum to the overall development and integration of West Africa as a subset to the African continent.

The ECOWAS High Level mission used the occasion to conclude the signing of the Agreement between the ECOWAS Commission, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization and the Agency for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs of the Republic of Guinea for the sum of $499,930 to support recovery and resilience building for those impacted by natural disasters such as flooding. The agreement was endorsed by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation of the Republic of Guinea on behalf of the Government. This was followed with a visit by the ECOWAS delegation to the Situation Room of the Agency where the Director of the Agency, Mr Lancei Toure briefed on the structure and operations of the Agency as well as the humanitarian and disaster situation in the Country.

On the 17th of January 2024, the ECOWAS Head of Delegation – Prof. Fatou Sow Sarr accompanied by the ECOWAS Resident Representative to Guinea had an audience with the Prime Minister Dr Bernard Gomou. In addition, a meeting was held with the Minister for the Promotion of Women, Her Excellency, Nannette Conte at the side-lines of the mission.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).