The President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Kadre Desire Ouedraogo 
has called for urgent international action to reverse the deteriorating 
security situation in northern Mali, which has been taken over by 
secessionists and extremists.

"Urgent action is indispensable in order to avoid further deterioration of the 
situation following the unacceptable destruction of the country's cultural 
heritage, the violation of human rights and the humanitarian consequences of 
the crisis,” the President told a delegation from the Kingdom of Spain led by 
that country's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gonzalo de Benito 
Secades.

"What is happening in the north of Mali is unacceptable to us, that is why we 
are working with partners to resolve it not only because of its potential to 
destabilise neighbouring countries and the region, but also because of its 
link with criminality and extremism," he added. 

The President told the delegation that the Concept of Operations for an 
African-led force to assist Mali recover its territory from the separatist 
groups had been submitted to the UN Security Council in response to the 
Council’s 45-day deadline for the clarification of aspects of the proposed 
deployment. The Concept of Operation was produced with the support of partners 
including the UN, the African Union and the European Union.

President Ouedraogo also briefed the delegation on the efforts being made to 
resolve political crisis in Guinea-Bissau where a military coup in April 2012 
was followed by an ECOWAS brokered interim political arrangement in the 
country until elections scheduled for April 2013.

To ensure durable democracy in the country, he said ECOWAS has contributed 
US$63 million to implement a defence and security sector reform programme that 
will professionalise the country’s military, insulate it from politics thereby 
subordinating it to civilian control. 

The Agreement for the reform programme was signed on 7th November 2012 by the 
ECOWAS Commission and the Guinea-Bissau Government.

The President also informed the delegation about a planned summit of West and 
Central African leaders next year to develop a joint policy to address the 
maritime security challenges confronting the two regions.

In his response, Mr. Secades praised ECOWAS as Spain’s strategic partner and 
pledged the country's determination to continue to support the region towards 
realising its mandate of promoting economic development, consolidation of 
peace and security and dealing with migration issues.

He also assured that Spain will study a request by ECOWAS to support the 
deployment of the African-led force to help Mali regain its northern territory 
and stressed the need to encourage collaboration between the private sectors 
of West Africa and Spain particularly in renewable energy where the country 
possesses some expertise that could be the shared with ECOWAS.

At the end of the meeting, the two parties agreed to undertake a joint 
evaluation of their collaboration in the first quarter of 2013 to ensure that 
the concomitant programmes are aligned with their strategic objectives.

Spain supports ECOWAS projects mainly in the areas of migration, agriculture, 
energy, peace and security.

The ECOWAS team at the meeting included the Commissioners for administration 
and finance, agriculture, macroeconomic policy, human development and gender, 
political affairs, peace and security and trade, customs, free movement and 
tourism.