ECOWAS now has regional radio in Monrovia

Tue, Mar 27, 2018 | By publisher


Africa

PRESIDENT George Manneh Weah of Liberia has welcomed the transfer, on Friday March 23, 2018, of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, UNMIL, Radio to the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.

“As the United Nations withdraws from Liberia, its radio is transferred to ECOWAS. I am convinced that this powerful medium of communication will enable the regional organisation have greater impact on its citizens, particularly at the grassroots,” Weah said.

The Liberian head of state expressed gratitude to the United Nations Mission for its critical role in the consolidation of democracy, economic development, peace and security in Liberia, through the radio.

He urged ECOWAS to build on these achievements, and to make the radio a viable instrument to effectively promote peace, security, and integration in the region.

According to the Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, ECOWAS Commission president, represented by Leopoldo Amado, the commissioner for Education, Science and Culture, the new regional radio would serve as a platform to promote regional integration as enshrined in the ECOWAS Treaty and its related texts and protocols.

“The radio station will promote regional integration; contribute to the education of the West African people; create awareness of ECOWAS programmes and its Vision 2020; help to strengthen economic integration, peace, security, and democracy in West Africa; and promote development programmes of the United Nations and international partners across the sub-region,” stated Amado.

3 - Officials at the ceremony of transfer to ECOWAS of UNMIL radio
3 – Officials at the ceremony of transfer to ECOWAS of UNMIL radio

He called for greater support from the international community to sustain the radio, noting that the pomp and pageantry of the handing over ceremony should not detract from the major challenges to be addressed through the collective effort of all stakeholders.

“There is the need for huge technical investment, first to enable the radio remain on air, then to extend its broadcast to the other Member States in the three official languages of ECOWAS, and finally to incorporate national languages that will foster the socio-cultural integration of our Community,” Leopoldo Amado concluded.

Earlier, Ambassador Tunde Ajisomo, the resident representative of the ECOWAS Commission president in Liberia, thanked UNMIL staff, Antonio Guterres, the United Nations’ secretary-general; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president and Marcel de Souza, former ECOWAS Commission president and all who contributed to the successful transfer of the UN Radio to the regional organisation.

“This transfer encapsulates the desire of ECOWAS founding fathers to strengthen the bond of unity and promote peaceful co-existence among Member States of the Community,” Ajisomo said.

Amina Mohammed, the United Nations deputy secretary-general, Farid Zari, the United Nations Under-Secretary General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Coordinator for UN Operations in Liberia, as well as Eugene Lenn Nagbe, the Liberian minister for Information, all expressed satisfaction with the transfer of the UNMIL Radio to ECOWAS.

Following the tape-cutting ceremony symbolising the transfer of the UNMIL Radio to ECOWAS, Weah, Amado and Mohammed walked into one of the studios for the official live broadcast of the ECOWAS Radio.

The transfer ceremony was followed by the high-level meeting to formulate Liberia’s 2018-2024 National Development Plan.

Both ceremonies were presided over by Weah.

The ECOWAS Commission president’s representative underscored the importance of aligning Liberia’s National Development Plan with existing strategies and plans at global, continental and sub-regional levels, particularly the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the African Union’s 2063 Agenda, and the ECOWAS Vision 2020.

“Africa is fed up with development policies bearing little impact on its citizens. The policies are not easily implementable and formulated by so-called experts who have no clear understanding of our specific realities. “In a nutshell, “the National Development Plan should be target-oriented and realistic,” he concluded.

– Mar. 27, 2018 @ 17:49 GMT |

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