The ECOWAS Gender Development Centre and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation agreed to pursue technical consultations on a second phase of the Institutional Support Project, with attention to the care economy, in Dakar on October 20, 2026.
The meeting at the EGDC headquarters was led by the head of the AECID office in Nigeria and to ECOWAS, according to a report from the Economic Community of West African States.
It formed part of a partnership carried through the Institutional Support Project to the EGDC and AECID’s Obstetric Fistula Project, which is being implemented in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Senegal.
Discussions covered new prospects for collaboration around the care economy and the Gender-Responsive Regional Climate Action and Green Economy Program.
The two areas were described in the report as recognised drivers of social, economic and environmental transformation, offering opportunities to strengthen women’s economic empowerment, increase community resilience and promote sustainable and equitable development.
Sandra OULATÉ FATTOH, Director of the EGDC, commended the quality and strength of the partnership with AECID in her welcoming remarks.
She recalled results achieved with the support of Spanish Cooperation, particularly on the institutional capacity-building of the EGDC and on initiatives she described as innovative and structural, such as AECID’s Fistula Project.
Continuing the collaboration, she said, remains essential to addressing the challenges that continue to affect women and girls in the region.
AECID representatives reaffirmed their commitment to supporting ECOWAS efforts toward gender equality and the promotion of women’s rights.
They welcomed the progress made by the EGDC in implementing both projects and reiterated interest in developing high-impact regional initiatives, particularly in the care economy, women’s economic empowerment, climate action, the green economy and sustainable development.
The care economy was singled out at the meeting as a strategic sector capable of generating significant social and economic benefits.
Discussions also addressed the participation of the EGDC and AECID in the 10th Global Conference on Obstetric Fistula, scheduled to take place in Dakar from December 14 to 19, 2026.
Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury that can follow prolonged or obstructed labour without timely medical intervention, and treatment and prevention programmes are typically run through maternal health services.
The care economy generally refers to the paid and unpaid work of looking after people — children, older people and those with illnesses or disabilities — and is a recurring theme in development policy on women’s workforce participation.
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