Abuja – The Ambassador of Liberia to Nigeria is recommending to the ECOWAS Commission the designing of a one-year action plan with key implementable projects that are achievable for the use of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the current Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State and Government.
Prof. Al-Hassan Conteh said the one-year action plan would be very helpful for the implementation of President Sirleaf’s priorities, as outlined in her acceptance speech on June 4, 2016 at the 49th Ordinary Summit of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, in Dakar, Senegal, a dispatch from the Liberian Embassy in Abuja says.
Chairing a meeting of Permanent Representatives of ECOWAS and the President of the ECOWAS Commission and his management team on Thursday, July 22, Ambassador Conteh reminded the President of the Commission of President Sirleaf’s Four-Point Agenda.
Ambassador Conteh renamed the Chairperson’s Four-Point Agenda as consolidating the region’s peace and security architecture, concluding negotiations on ECOWAS Protocols, treaties and agreements, addressing ECOWAS Vision 2020 through priority agriculture and infrastructure projects, and enhancing the financial stability of ECOWAS.
According to the dispatch, the meeting which will from now be held bi-monthly was called by President Marcel de Souza to, among other things, brief the Permanent Representatives on the main conclusions of the 49th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, the Community Development Programme (CDP) Priority Projects and the Status of the ECOWAS Community Levy.
The Liberian Ambassador of Liberia who is also the Permanent Representative to ECOWAS expressed the confidence that the bi-monthly meetings will solidify the engagement between the Commission and all the Permanent Representatives in order to assist with the implementation Community Development Programs.
He stated that the role of the Permanent Representatives is to support the implementation of ECOWAS Vision 2020 and the Community’s Strategic Plan, to make ECOWAS approachable and serviceable to all citizens of Member States.
“In this connection we consider ourselves (Permanent Representatives) vital catalysts in the supply chain of ECOWAS activities for the ultimate aim of improving the welfare and standard of living of our peoples”, he added.
At the same time, Ambassador Conteh disclosed that the Chairperson has set up a National Steering Committee on ECOWAS Matters to provide synergy between ECOWAS and her office.
He said, “It includes the key Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Development Planning and Defense, the ECOWAS National Office and the Office of the Special Representative of the President of the ECOWAS Commission in Liberia.”
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Marcel de Souza in his welcome address said that the bi-monthly meetings will be holding to discuss progress reports of the Community’s projects and developments.
While briefing the Permanent Representatives on the priority projects of the Community Development Programmes, the ECOWAS President stressed on the construction of the Lagos–Abidjan Highway and promised to involve the private sector to actualize the project.