HISTOIRE DE JESUS

Since the Treaty establishing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was signed in 1975, several protocole have been adopted providing the legal and institutional framework for implementing the integration of the West African sub-region. Ail social and political stakeholders agree that regional integration is a major challenge for development in West Africa. Yet the regional integration process has been affected by many delays, even failures. Member states have pursued a seemingly contradictory dual objective: build a Nation-state within colonial Borders and achieve regional integration to fight against under-development. Can national planning priorities be reconciled with the demands and objectives of regional integration processes in West Africa ? Since 2005, under the auspices of the Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme initiative, the Social and Human Sciences Sector of UNESCO has organized a series of national seminars on West African regional integration in the ECOWAS region. Four seminars have so far been organized in Senegal, Mali, Benin and Ghana. This anthology publishes papers presented at Ghana's national seminar on "Nation-states and the Challenge of Regional Integration in West Africa: the Case of Ghana", held in Accra from 8 to 9 November 2005. The contributors suggest that Ghana's reluctance to relinquish its sovereignty stemmed from a lack of commitment in the first 20 years of ECOWAS' existence and preoccupation with its own security and survival against internai and externat threats. The state has currently demonstrated renewed commit-ment by establishing a Ministry of Regional Cooperation and the New Agenda for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to coordinate and manage the sub-regional integration programme. In spite of positive developments, results have been disappointing. The new ministry remains isolated and is constrained by limited resources in finance and manpower. Its approach to integration issues has been elitist and technocratic, concentrating on format trade and ignoring the importance of the informai trade that has been the traditional means of popular participation in the integration of West African economies. Borderland communities with economic and social ties continue to engage in exchanges across political boundaries in defiance of national and state security concerns. Empowerment of Ghanaians involved in small-scale, informa] cross-border trade (in majority, women) "would not only increase the levels of social and economic integration, but would make the benefits of integration available to large sections of the population".

Au coeur d'une nature enchanteresse, et situé sur la rive d'un fleuve majestueux, se trouve un petit village loin de tout. Sur la rive opposée, il y a la jungle, réputée non seulement pour sa pléthore d'animaux et de végétaux qui y vivent en équilibre naturel, mais aussi pour ses mystères et ses énigmes, et dont la tradition orale rapporte des histoires de loups, de fantômes et de démons. Un beau jour, quelques villageois aperçoivent de l'autre côté de la rivière, une étrange apparition, celle d'un homme longiligne, aux longs cheveux, vêtu d'un simple pagne. L'homme est vu sortant de la forêt épaisse puis venant se laver les membres et le visage dans l'eau. Ce spectacle étrange est difficile à admettre pour les habitants du village car ils sont persuadés qu'il est impossible pour un être humain de survivre dans cette jungle inhospitalière. Un jeune garçon, d'une douzaine d'années à peine, se passionne pour l'incident et se promet de résoudre le mystère de l'homme de la forêt. Les enfants de la planète sont guidés par la sagesse des temps anciens, vers le respect de la nature, et la connaissance de soi.