On 28 March 2025 the Director of the Regional Integration Coordination Office of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), Joy Kategekwa, received a delegation from the Ombudsmen Association of the member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

Led by the association’s president, Pascal Essou, Ombudsman of the Republic of Benin, the meeting took place at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan. The ombudsmen were keen to obtain the support of the Bank in strengthening the rule of law, regional integration and confidence of citizens in the administrations of the eight WAEMU countries.

“I would like to thank the Bank for receiving us with such commitment and enthusiasm in order to begin technical discussions with our Association aimed at deepening strategic dialogue and identifying synergies between our action, on the one hand, and the Bank’s strategic priorities, the High 5s, and its regional integration strategy document for West Africa 2020-2025, on the other hand,” Essou said.

The meeting was attended by ombudsmen for Côte d’Ivoire, Adama Toungara, and for Senegal, Demba Kandji, who are respectively Secretary General and Treasurer of the Association, as well as by WAEMU representative in Côte d’Ivoire, Gustave Diasso, and several of their colleagues.

Created in 2008 and based in Ouagadougou, the Ombudsmen Association promotes mediation, citizens’ rights, administrative justice and regional integration in its member countries. It also works for the prevention and resolution of conflicts and crises, supporting long-term peace and the universal and effective application of community law in the union’s countries. The association brings together all the ombudsman institutions of eight countries in West Africa’s franc zone: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

During the meeting, the association’s Strategic Plan for 2025-2029, which is structured around five pillars: governance and the rule of law, performance and partnerships, peace and security, research, and institutional development and communication, was shared. The plan will be validated at a high-level round table on resource mobilisation to be held in Dakar on 29 April. The association asked the Bank to contribute to the success of the round table and to mobilise new partners and the resources that are needed to implement the plan.

The Abidjan meeting also considered possible avenues of support from the African Development Bank such as technical and financial assistance, strategic advice.

Kategekwa praised the work of ombudsmen in promoting regional integration, strengthening governance, promoting the rule of law, and fostering civic engagement and administrative efficiency in WAEMU member countries.

She also pointed out that the Strategic Plan of the WAEMU Ombudsmen Association is aligned with the Bank Group’s Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa (2022-2026) (https://apo-opa.co/4i7lPJ4). She emphasised the role of the Transition Support Facility (https://apo-opa.co/42mQSum) and the window for regional public goods (https://apo-opa.co/42yFEnY) as instruments that can be used to leverage resilience in areas of fragility and governance in Africa.

“I applaud the initiative by the WAEMU Ombudsmen Association to organise a round table on resource mobilisation. The outcome of this meeting will undoubtedly strengthen our common commitment to building a more integrated, peaceful and just West Africa,” she said.

Kategekwa was accompanied at the meeting by other Bank staff: the Chief Coordinator for Regional Funds Management, Youssouf Koné; the Head of the Transition States Coordination Office, Riadh Ben Messaoud; and Officer for Institutional Capacity Building, Marcel Maglo.