ECOWAS backs the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, Africa’s first Olympic event, through a partnership with Senegal’s CNOSS including financial and technical support, 24 sponsored young volunteers from member states and a dedicated ECOWAS Village during the Games’ second week.
The commission’s involvement was on display at the opening ceremony on Saturday 31 October at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, where H.E. General Birame Diop, President of the ECOWAS Commission, and the Honourable Nassirou Arifari Bako, ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs, appeared alongside H.E. Mr Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of Senegal and current Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
Also present were International Olympic Committee President Ms Kirsty Coventry and members of the international community. West African representation included the Transitional President of Guinea-Bissau, H.E. General Horta Nta, and the President of Sierra Leone, H.E. Dr Julius Maada Bio.
The President of Mauritania, H.E. Mr Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Rwandan President H.E. Mr Paul Kagame and H.E. Mr Azali Assoumani of the Union of the Comoros also took part.
Under the CNOSS partnership, ECOWAS is providing financial and technical support for the organisation of the Games. The commission is also backing training for young people on sport-related topics including leadership, civic engagement, Olympic values, social cohesion and community spirit.
A flagship element is the full sponsorship of 24 young volunteers from ECOWAS member states. Deployed across all Games venues, the volunteers are tasked with welcoming, guiding, supervising and providing logistical support.
Earlier in the year, ECOWAS supported a Regional Youth Forum in Saly, where young participants from several member states discussed sport as a catalyst for human development, peace, social cohesion, employability, entrepreneurship and regional integration.
That was followed by an awareness-raising forum for ambassadors and the presidents and secretaries-general of member states’ National Olympic Committees, and by a training camp for athletes from member states.
During the second week of the Games, ECOWAS will run the ECOWAS Village, described as a space for information, activities, dialogue and sharing designed for young participants, visitors and the general public.
The village will showcase the organisation’s missions, objectives, programmes and achievements in support of youth, employment, entrepreneurship, volunteering, education, mobility and human development across member states.
Before the opening ceremony, the Youth Olympic Flame completed its journey in Dakar as Senegal hosted the Dakar Summit on Sport and Sustainable Development on the morning of 31 October, a platform dedicated to sport’s role in education, inclusion, health and the empowerment of young people.
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