Challenges of democracy in the region

Developing and entrenching democracy in the ECOWAS sub-region comes against major obstacles including:

- illiteracy: low literacy rates in several ECOWAS countries, which hinders the citizens' ability to know and assert their rights and to participate in public life. To this end, it is of utmost importance that States increase budgets for education, which is critical to promoting a democratic culture in the region;

- tribalism and ethnocentrism: here, it is necessary to ensure respect of local cultures, promote a cultural melting-pot and openness to other peoples through education on peace and conflict management;

- deficit in taking endogenous values into account: these values are threatened by the globalization phenomenon; they need to be protected as intangible cultural assets;

- military coups: military coups are, in democracy, contrary to constitutional provisions. Coups must automatically be condemned and opposed in as much as only citizens have the right to effect change in a democratic system;

- constitutional coups d'état with unilateral constitutional changes;

- poverty is a danger to sustainable democracy and its consolidation, for it impedes access to education, participation in public life, and encourages corruption;

- social and political upheavals, generally election-related, threaten the stability of states and torment ECOWAS citizenry;

- weakness of public institutions: loss of credibility of public institutions, due to corruption, is a serious impediment to democracy. Confidence in institutions needs to be re-established through a policy of transparency and accountability;

- abuse of power: infringing human rights, tampering with the constitution, abuse of authority...