Priority Areas and Strategies

West Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. Contrary to popular stereotypes, it is nevertheless highly affected by the global economy, due to its large external dependence. Frequently, however its involvement in international trade plays out to the region’s disadvantage and others are benefiting from its resource exports and the imports of cheap consumables onto the West African market.

FES believes that a strengthening of regional integration is key to the creation of larger markets, the stimulation of exchange within the region and improved competitiveness of regional products. But regional integration is also crucial to a more proactive trade policy stance, which will contribute to the capacity of the region to harness its own potentials.

While economic development is a precondition to the improvement of living standards, it does not guarantee social justice. Development policy and by correlation regional integration and trade strategies thus need to actively promote the social dimension of growth.

We believe that the social dimension of regional integration is best defined by the stakeholders of the region themselves. Getting their voices heard at the policy-making level will contribute to this social dimension being taken into account in the resulting policy.

FES thus aims to support partners from civil society and trade unions first in the development of their own policy positions, through capacity building, exchange with other concerned actors, etc. Secondly, FES tries to assist its partners in bringing these positions into the decision-making process, by supporting lobbying, media work, networking and political dialogue.

Parliamentarians play a central role in this process. In their function of government oversight, they can check economic and trade policy of governments to ensure that it is development-oriented and socially just. FES, in cooperation with its partners, who are part of the parliamentarians’ constituencies, aims to capture parliamentarians’ interest for and build their capacities on these issues to facilitate their engagement.

Men and women are affected differently by trade policy, because they have different roles within the economies of the region and are thus affected through different chains of effect. This is taken into account both in terms of the stakeholders involved and the positions developed.