ECOWAS Gender Development Centre Holds Retreat in Senegal on the 2026–2028 Budget and the New Budgetary Framework

From 26^th to 29^th  August, 2025, the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC), under the leadership of the Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs of the ECOWAS Commission, held a strategic staff retreat at the Palm Beach Hotel in Saly, Republic of Senegal.

The retreat focused on building staff capacity in the use of the newly introduced Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) template, aligning the Centre’s budget documents with the new framework, and preparing the draft 2026 – 2028 budget of the EGDC.

The exercise also provided an opportunity to develop and validate the Centre’s fourth quarter work plan and its third quarter performance report for 2025, while identifying key challenges and prospects for the years 2026, 2027, and 2028.

The retreat brought together staff of the EGDC, the GIABA/EGDC Pooling, and the Directorate of Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the ECOWAS Commission in an environment conducive to strategic reflection, dialogue, and the strengthening of internal coordination and effectiveness.

During the opening ceremony, specialists from the ECOWAS Commission’s Directorate of Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation commended the initiative, noting that it reflects management’s vision of involving all stakeholders in planning and in the development of tools. The Director of the EGDC expressed appreciation to GIABA and the Directorate of Strategic Planning for their technical support in developing and understanding the new budgetary framework. She stressed that the exercise is crucial, not only for ensuring compliance with rules and procedures, but also for preparing for budget arbitration.