IPNEWS: At the 61st Session of the ECOWAS Authority held on 3^rd July 2022 in Accra, the Authority welcomed the proposal made by the Transition Authorities of Burkina Faso on the need to set up a joint Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism to support the transition process.

To that end, the Transition Authorities proposed a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ECOWAS and the Government of Burkina Faso as a framework document for the establishment of the Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism.  ECOWAS proceeded to develop draft Terms of Reference (TORs) as an addendum to the Mechanism to guide the operationalization of the Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism of the transition process.

In this context, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, led a technical team to Burkina Faso from 10^th to 12^th November 2022 to hold consultations with the Transition Authorities to finalise the MOU and the TORs before the next meeting of the Mediation and Security Council (MSC). The technical team included a representative of UNOWAS, one of the ECOWAS partners supporting the transition process in Burkina Faso.

At the end of the technical working sessions held on 11^th November at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between the technical experts of ECOWAS and Burkina Faso, it was agreed that the Burkina Faso authorities will incorporate the amendments made to the two documents. These will be sent to the ECOWAS Mediator for endorsement and onward submission to ECOWAS for finalization and signature.

In separate meetings, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the Prime Minister of the Transition. They called on ECOWAS to provide concrete support to the Transition Government, especially in resource mobilization, to address the intractable security and humanitarian situation.

Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah assured him of ECOWAS’ strong commitment to accompanying Burkina Faso in the transition process leading to a return to constitutional order in conformity with the ECOWAS Protocols. He reiterated ECOWAS’ readiness to support, in conjunction with relevant partners, Burkina Faso’s efforts to combat terrorism and improve the humanitarian situation in the country.