Accra, Sept. 13, GNA - Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, President of ECOWAS Commission would address the first meeting of ECOWAS Small Arms Control Programme (ECOSAP) Advisory Board Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria on Monday, September 17.

The Board's mandate is to assist with advocacy, developing strategic partnerships, resource mobilization and establishing an international network for small arms control in the sub-region. An e-mail to Ghana News Agency on Friday and signed by Mr Oluwafisan Bankale, Policy, Advocacy and Communications Officer at ECOWAS Secretariat, said the board also sought to provid e the vision on how to address the small arms problem in West Africa. The nine-member Board is drawn from within and outside West Africa, meet annually and report to ECOWAS Commission.

ECOSAP was launched in June 2006 as a five-year capacity-building programme to strengthen the capacity of National Commissions, ECOWAS Small Arms Division and Civil Society Organisations in the war against proliferation of small arms in West Africa. The programme is based in Bamako, Mali. 14 Sept. 07