DCAF and the IPU, with the support of the ECOWAS Parliament and in cooperation with the National Assembly of Senegal, will be organizing a two-day subregional seminar in West Africa on parliamentary oversight in the area of security and defence. This event is part of the joint efforts by DCAF and the IPU to bolster the contribution of parliaments, in particular their defence and security committees, to security sector governance.
The subregional seminar will first examine general principles of parliamentary oversight and how they apply to the context of West Africa. It will subsequently focus on specific ways and areas in which parliaments can become more effective:
- Norms relating to good parliamentary ethical standards and transparency;
- Gender mainstreaming;
- Good practices for effective parliamentary committees (defence and security committees, budget committees, intelligence committees, etc.); and
- Mechanisms and approaches for more effective budgetary oversight.
The parliaments of ECOWAS member countries are invited to send a delegation, preferably comprised of members of security and defence committees, to take part in the seminar. Interpretation will be available from and into English, French and Portuguese, and key documents will be translated into these languages.
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