A constellation of local and national organisations is influencing policy and programming within the ECOWAS-UEMOA-CILSS framework and the African Union, complementing their role as implementation agencies of region-wide projects that support women's economic empowerment and resilience. With a triple focus on the most vulnerable individuals, organised groups and collective institutions and systems, resilience is an essential means to achieve the multiple challenges of empowerment. At the same time, given the centrality of women in West African societies, empowerment is also an evident way to build the resilience of the region's populations in the face of different shocks and stresses.