ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Economic Community of West African States

Alright kiddo, let's talk about the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS for short. ECOWAS is like a club made up of countries in West Africa who all want to work together to make things better for themselves and their people.

You know how you have friends at school who all share toys and snacks sometimes? Well, ECOWAS is like that but with countries. They share things like ideas, resources and trade with each other to help each other grow and improve.

ECOWAS has lots of goals to make this happen, like promoting economic development, helping countries trade with each other easily, and working to reduce poverty in the region. They do this by having meetings, making agreements, and helping each other out when needed.

ECOWAS also helps keep the peace by sending peacekeepers to countries when there are conflicts, and working to resolve them. They also help with managing health crises, like the Ebola outbreak which happened a few years ago.

The countries in ECOWAS are like friends working together to create a better place to live in, just like how you and your friends can work together to make your playground a happier and better place for everyone.