N°: 298/2012
6 November 2012 [Bissau - Guinea Bissau]
The deployment of the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB) from March 2012 is to be formalized with the signing on Wednesday 7th November 2012, of a Mission Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the roadmap for the country’s defence and security sector reform programme.
Both documents will be signed by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo and Guinea-Bissau’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Honourable Faustino Fudut Imbali, at a ceremony that will be followed by flag-raising and military parade.
In the first document containing 61 Articles, both parties committed to promote peace and stability in Guinea-Bissau in accordance with international law, the United Nations Charter, the Revised ECOWAS Treaty, the ECOWAS Protocol on the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Peace and Security, and the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
The second document makes it clear that Guinea-Bissau and ECOWAS share the desire for mutual cooperation, with a view to promoting democratic governance reforming the country’s defence and security sector, and launching a strategic dialogue in this regard.
On 16th March 2011, the Government of Guinea-Bissau approved the roadmap crafted by ECOWAS and the Community of Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP) for the defence and security sector reform of August 2010. That document was subsequently amended at a joint meeting held in November 2010 in Abuja, Nigeria, between the ECOWAS Chiefs of defence staff, and the Heads of security services and representatives of the CPLP.
With over 600 soldiers and police officers from Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Senegal, ECOMIB is charged with securing Guinea-Bissau’s transitional arrangements, with the replacement of 600-strong Angolan soldiers deployed on 11th March 2011, pursuant to an agreement between Angola and Guinea-Bissau.