The first in the series of events organized by the ECOWAS Permanent Observer Mission and the ECOWAS Group at the United Nations was a High-Level Dialogue at the UN Headquarters on ‘Regionalism, Democracy and Development in West Africa: Building Blocks to Strengthening Multilateralism’, which held on Friday, June 7, 2024.
The opening session of the event featured remarks by the UN Deputy Secretary General, Madam Amina Mohammed, the African Union Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Ambassador Fatima Kyari Mohammed, Ambassador Axel de la Maisonneuve of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations, the ECOWAS Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Ambassador Jawara-Njai and Prof. Nkiru Edozie, the Deval Patrick Endowed Chair Africa Scholars Forum of the University of Massachusetts, Boston. The Keynote address was delivered by the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah.
The subsequent session of the High-Level event included statements by the Permanent Representatives of ECOWAS Member States to the United Nations as well as contributions from Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa, Mr. Leonardo Santos Simao, Special Representative of the Secretary General for West Africa and the Sahel, M’s. Martha Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, United Nations Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, Mr. Gilles Olakounle Yabi, Founder and CEO, West Africa Citizen Think Tank (WATHI) and Mrs. Oge Onubogu, Director of the Woodrow Wilson Africa Program.
The key objective of the event was to enable exchanges on ECOWAS’ initiatives in promoting Good Governance and sustainable development, and further facilitate a collective understanding of ECOWAS’ efforts towards addressing the ongoing challenges while underscoring the pertinence of regionalism for sustainable development and democracy.
The High-Level Dialogue was held in collaboration with the UN Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs-Department of Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) and the Africa Scholars Forum of the John McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts-Boston.
On the 12th of June, a second event was held to brief the Permanent Representative of the West Africa region to the United Nations, for the purpose of strengthening dialogue and concertation amongst key stakeholders. The session, which was hosted by the West Africa Divion of UN DPPA-DPO, was an occasion for the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security to brief the Permanent Representatives on the political and security developments in West Africa and the Sahel region.
As a final in the series of events in commemoration of the anniversary, the ECOWAS Observer Mission convened, on the 14th of June, the Election Officers of Permanent Representations to a technical working group meeting to finalize the ECOWAS Guidelines on Candidatures of Member States for Positions to Organs/Specialized Agencies of the United Nations. The purpose of this initiative is to establish processes and procedures that would strengthen the Candidatures of the ECOWAS Group.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).