The Social Dimension of Regional Integration in ECOWAS

1. Introduction
This paper intends, through an examination of ECOWAS, to assess the obstacles and
possibilities of incorporating social concerns relating to labour and employment into
regional policies and institutions, and what opportunities there are in this area for
improvement as well as greater cooperation with the ILO.
Regional integration (RI) is typically associated, though is not limited to, the objectives of
increased trade and stronger economic linkages between countries. Yet as the recent report
of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization emphasizes, RI can
and should play a greater role in addressing issues such as democratic participation, respect
for basic rights, education, social security and poverty reduction – in essence, the social
dimension. To better understand what this social dimension looks like in practice, it is
useful to consider regional integration from two different, though complementary,
perspectives. The first, and likely most publicized aspect of RI, relates to the potential
negative impact that economic liberalization has on employment and on a region’s
capacity to dampen this impact. Regional agreements invariably include commitments for
lowering trade barriers between member states, raising concerns that jobs will be diverted
to markets with lower labour costs and that existing labour standards will erode. RI
agreements may also include provisions on the free movement of people and labour which
may increase competition between neighbouring workers and potentially have important
migratory consequences. An analysis of such socio-economic impacts of regional
integration will not be the focus of this paper but are, nonetheless, important areas of study
for discerning the social impact of RI economic policy on a region’s working population. 1
The second perspective with regard to RI has to do with the institutional character of
integration. This is chiefly a governance question about whether regional bodies (where
they exist) have the mandate to address social concerns, and if so, how they are in fact
addressing them. What role, for example, do regional structures play in regulating labour
mobility, overseeing and enforcing labour and employment standards, or in promoting
social dialogue and gender equality in the elaboration of regional policies? Additionally,
within the African context, what responsibility do these organizations have in regional
development and poverty reduction strategies and how, if at all, do these initiatives speak
to issues like employment and social security? These inquiries are the main focus of the
presentation that follows which, in essence, identifies the present capacity and future
potential for RI as a vehicle to promote decent work by drawing on the experiences in
West Africa.
Ultimately, separating these two perspectives is artificial since the social policy choices of
regional communities cannot be made in a vacuum but must inevitably respond to the real
and measured effects that economic integration has on people. This interplay is most
1 There is currently no assessment available on the impact of economic liberalization on workers and
the labour market in West Africa, and mostly scattered information on the economic impact of
ECOWAS in general. However, a few reports do exist on the impact of the EU-ACP trade initiative
in the region, however, their discussion of labour issues is minimal. Consider Sustainability Impact
Assessment (SIA) of the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements: Regional SIA: West African
ACP Countries, online: and
Assessing the Impact of ACP/EU Economic Partnership Agreements on West African Countries,
online:
.
Working paper No. 49 1