Paris – Liberia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Liberia to the French Republic and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO Ambassador C. William Allen has been unanimously endorsed as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Group of Ambassadors at UNESCO.
Ambassador Allen replaced his Senegalese counterpart, Ambassador Abdou Sourang, whose tenure expired in June 2016.
In his turn-over remarks the out-going Chair of the ECOWAS Group of Ambassador Sourang thanked his colleagues for the level of support they accorded him and the accomplishments they achieved during his tenure as the Chair of the group.
Ambassador Sourang called on his colleagues to give to the new Chairman of the group, Ambassador Allen, their full cooperation as he takes on the administration of the group in the year ahead.
In his acceptance remarks, Ambassador Allen who is the first Liberian Ambassador to Chair that group promised to work for the general good of the organization by seeking consultations in the effective running of the group.
Ambassador Allen promised to coordinate his activities with his colleagues at the Bureau of the Africa Group of Ambassadors so that important issues affecting the West Africa Sub-region can be addressed and promoted.
Ambassador Allen proposed the coordination of the various programs at the level of African Ambassadors and regional groups into a single calendar to derive maximum benefits at the different organizations.
According to the Protocol of the ECOWAS Group of Ambassador at UNESCO, the country currently chairing the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State automatically becomes the chair of the sub-regional group of Ambassadors and Permanent Delegates at UNESCO.
It can be recalled that in June 2016, Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, was unanimously elected as Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, at the 49th Ordinary Meeting of the Authority.
President Sirleaf is the first Liberian President and the first female Head of State of Africa to be elected as the Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
Ambassador Allen was appointed Liberia’s Ambassador to France and UNESCO by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and he officially resumed duties in March 2014.