(NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Sunday, August 6, 2017) Liberia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency Lewis Garseedah Brown, II has called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Group to continue to work together to remain a significant bloc at the United Nations.

The ECOWAS Group consists of Permanent Missions of West African States to the United Nations with the aim of collaborating to ensure collective actions and solidarity on issues of common interests.

Speaking over the weekend when he turned over the chairmanship of the ECOWAS Group to the Permanent Representative of Togo, Ambassador Brown said as a concerted effort, ECOWAS has a lot to offer the African Union and the United Nations.

According to a dispatch from Liberia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Liberia’s chief diplomat to the United Nations described his tenure as chairman of the ECOWAS Group as an honor and pledged the Liberian Mission’s support to the new leadership and the agenda of ECOWAS.

The chairmanship of the ECOWAS Group is rotational as the chairmanship of the sub-regional organization, ECOWAS. Ambassador Brown assumed the group’s chairmanship when President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected as chairperson of ECOWAS in June 2016.

In response, the new ECOWAS Group chairman, His Excellency Ambassador Kokou Kpayedo of the Permanent Mission of Togo thanked Ambassador Brown for his leadership and outstanding work that gave more visibility to the ECOWAS Group.

Ambassador Kpayedo made special mention of the group’s collective action on the political situation in Guinea Bissau and the transversal threats of terrorism, maritime piracy, organized crimes, climate change and food security.

He encouraged his colleagues to do more to address the numerous and complex challenges facing the sub-region. “The numerous and complex challenges facing the sub-region call for collective action and solidarity on the part of our group to defend ECOWAS’ initiatives aimed at stabilizing the sub-region through the promotion of peace, security, social cohesion and an inclusive sustainable development,” he emphasized.

The Togolese Permanent Representative to the United Nations pledged to develop the necessary synergies to carry out various tasks of common interests and make the group more visible through the development of appropriate framework for the harmonization of the positions of ECOWAS States on issues of peace, security and sustainable development.

Ambassador Kpayedo named making the ECOWAS Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations more operational as a first priority for his leadership.

The turning over ceremony was graced by Ambassadors Kone Tanou Leon and Dr. Tete Antonio of the ECOWAS Permanent Observer Mission and African Union Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations respectively.