"Climate resilience begins with care": West Africa prepares one voice for the UN women's summit
ECOWAS states agreed priorities on paid care work and women's place in the green economy, to feed into the African position for New York in March 2027.
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Dakar — More than a hundred representatives of ECOWAS member states, civil society and regional bodies have agreed a common West African position on care work and women's role in the green economy, ahead of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW71) in New York in March 2027, ECOWAS said.
The online consultation on 12 October was organised by the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre with UN Women and chaired by Senegal, which holds the rotating chair of ECOWAS heads of state.
Two regional initiatives
- Investing in care: a mapping of care systems across the region, done with UN Women, shows women carry a disproportionate share of unpaid care work, and that investing in care could create jobs and promote equality. It sets seven priorities, including data, national policies, professionalising care work and financing. Cabo Verde, which has had a national care plan since 2017, was held up as an example.
- A green transition that includes women: a regional programme to widen women's access to green jobs, climate finance and business opportunities in farming, renewable energy, water management and the circular economy.
"Climate resilience begins with care," said Sandra Oulaté Fattoh, director of the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre. Dr Maxime Houinato, UN Women's regional director for West and Central Africa, called for "a coherent, forward-looking voice".
Senegal presented a joint declaration at the close. ECOWAS's contribution goes to an African Union meeting in Addis Ababa on 28 and 29 October to help shape Africa's common position.
Source: ECOWAS Commission, 14 October 2026.
