ECOWAS SUMMIT DEMONSTRATES WEST AFRICAN STATES' DETERMINATION TO ADDRESS SUBREGION'S CHALLENGES, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN MESSAGE
Press Release
SG/SM/6423
AFR/34
ECOWAS SUMMIT DEMONSTRATES WEST AFRICAN STATES' DETERMINATION TO ADDRESS SUBREGION'S CHALLENGES, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS IN MESSAGE
19971215 Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's message, to be delivered by his Special Envoy to Sierra Leone, Francis Okelo, at the extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to be held in Lome, from 16 to 17 December:It is with great pleasure and gratitude that I convey my best wishes to all of you gathered here today. I wish to thank His Excellency Gnassingbe Eyadema, President of Togo, for his generosity and hospitality in hosting this meeting.
Allow me first to congratulate the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on its initiative in holding this summit. Your gathering demonstrates a genuine determination to shoulder the responsibility of addressing the challenges facing this subregion, and I applaud you for that.
In undertaking that task, cooperation at the political level is especially important. When conflict and tension arise, the coordination of diplomatic efforts among the countries of the subregion is an essential ingredient for the success of any international, regional or subregional peacekeeping initiative.
Your persistent and ultimately successful efforts to bring peace to Liberia serve as a shining example in this regard. The harmonization of policies among ECOWAS countries formed one of the turning points of that initiative. It made possible the Abuja Agreement and the implementation of the peace process.
If the Liberia conflict had a silver lining, it was the very close working relationship which we built up between ECOWAS and the United Nations. We developed a new form of cooperation which, I am sure, will serve as an important model of cooperation for the resolution of other conflicts -- whether in Africa or elsewhere.
Our shared experiences from Liberia will serve us both well as we work to resolve the conflict in Sierra Leone and to return to power a democratically elected government.
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I also wish to take this opportunity to welcome the appointment of Lansana Kouyate as Executive Secretary of your organization.
With the support of the Heads of State, I am confident that Mr. Kouyate's leadership will enable the ECOWAS Secretariat to play the role expected of it in this subregional initiative.
The United Nations will work with you to help implement your decisions and contribute any institutional expertise we can. You can count on my personal support to ensure that every effort is made by our Organization in this regard. I wish you the best of success in your summit.
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