MONROVIA – The Managing Director of African Development Management Associates (ADMA), and Acting Dean of Cuttington University’s School of Global Affairs & Policy, Elias Shoniyin, will on February 24 serve as moderator of a panel discussion commemorating 200 Years of U.S.-Liberia ties.
The panel discussion will be jointly hosted by the Wilson Center’s Africa and History and Public Policy Programs.
Under the theme Moving Forward Together, the panel discussion will feature reflections by five former U.S. Ambassadors to Liberia who served during the country’s post civil war years.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield will provide opening remarks, followed by a panel discussion to include distinguished Ambassadors John W. Blaney, Donald E. Booth, Deborah R. Malac, and Christine A. Elder. Ambassador Michael A. McCarthy will offer closing remarks.
Shoniyin has held multiple roles in the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as Principal Deputy Foreign Minister from 2014 to 2019 during the administrations of both President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and President George Weah. Shoniyin was selected as a Yale World Fellow in 2019.
As two of the oldest continuous republics in the world, the United States and Liberia share a unique and significant history, offering both lessons learned and sustained successes.
The arrival of the free slaves from America on 7 January, 1822, led to the establishment of the city of Monrovia and, in 1847, the Republic of Liberia said Bill Allen, head of the history department at the state run-University of Liberia.
“Today, the United States and Liberia are two of the oldest continuous republics in the world and share a unique history paired with common democratic values,” said Allen.
At the official celebration of the Bicentennial program in Monrovia a week ago, President Weah named climate change, rural-to-urban migration as well as the influx of disadvantaged youths as issues undermining the country’s progress, but US representatives at the ceremonies honed in on the worrisome increase in corruption in Liberia.
“Liberia has a host of anti-corruption institutions…the truth is the government fails to adequately fund them,” said Dana Banks, special assistant to United States President Joe Biden.