The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Rt. Hon. Memounatou Ibrahima, has called for regional action to overcome complexities such as climate change and security challenges.
She made the demand on Tuesday, 22nd September 2026, while delivering her official opening statement at the weeklong seminar of the ECOWAS Parliament.
“The security, climate, economic, and institutional challenges facing our region continue to test our resilience,” she said.
She emphasized that overcoming these complex challenges “demands of us unwavering determination in collective, coordinated, and united action.”
The session in Accra is being held in accordance with Article 27, paragraph 2, of the Supplementary Act on the enhancement of the powers of the ECOWAS Parliament, which authorizes the holding of extraordinary sessions, with particular focus on climate change.
The session is preceded, from 21 to 23 September, by the Second Parliamentary Seminar, devoted to the theme: “Climate Change as a Factor of Environmental Degradation, Population Displacement and Growing Insecurity in the ECOWAS Region.”
The regional parliament chose the theme to go beyond the environmental dimension, noting that climate disruption does not affect only soils, forests, or coastlines.
In her official opening statement, Speaker Ibrahima said: “It undermines livelihoods, increases pressure on resources, causes population displacement, and exacerbates tensions within our communities.”
She stressed that climate change has thus become not only a development issue but also a peace and security issue for the region.
She noted that multilateral commitments made in appropriate frameworks, together with regional and national strategies developed over the years, have helped integrate climate action into public policies.
However, she cautioned: “These commitments will only produce their full effect if they are translated concretely into our legislation and our budgets.”
She underscored that it is precisely at this level that the responsibility of Parliament must be engaged.
According to her, it is the duty of the community parliament to ensure that commitments made by member states become funded policies, effective legislation, and tangible results for the population.
“Our role is to oversee public policies and budgets devoted to climate resilience. Our role is also to ensure that the responses given to climate change fully integrate their humanitarian, economic, social, migratory, and security dimensions,” she said.
She lamented that the recent floods experienced along the coastline prove that climate change remains a challenge that is simultaneously humanitarian, climatic, security-related, urban, and regional.
The seminar, she added, will undoubtedly deepen understanding of these interactions.
She expressed hope that it may lead to concrete recommendations articulating parliamentary responses that integrate climate adaptation, conflict prevention, and the protection of vulnerable populations.
She also indicated that the Second Extraordinary Session of 2026 will be devoted mainly to the examination and adoption of the Parliament’s draft budget for the 2027 financial year, as well as the annual programme of activities.
The budget exercise, she explained, is above all an exercise in prioritization, action, and credibility.
In the context of macroeconomic pressure and prudence requiring budgetary discipline, she stated: “Our responsibility is to ensure that the resources requested correspond to clearly established priorities and contribute to programmes that have real impact for regional integration and for our populations.”
She insisted that the budget review “must therefore be conducted with rigour, in accordance with the budget framework letter established for all the Community’s Institutions.”
Reiterating her earlier point, she said: “The security, climate, economic, and institutional challenges facing our region continue to test our resilience.”
Yet, she emphasized that overcoming these challenges “demands of us unwavering determination in collective, coordinated, and united action.”
Speaker Ibrahima concluded by stressing that the ECOWAS Parliament “must fully assume its share of responsibility,” adding that the regional institution must remain a space for dialogue and representation of the aspirations of the people.
She further challenged that the Parliament is also an actor capable of contributing, through its deliberations and recommendations, to finding concrete solutions to the challenges facing the region.
