Ambassador Allen (right) turns over to Ambassador Lare-Sambiani

Liberia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO Ambassador C. William Allen has turned over the chairmanship of the ECOWAS Group of Ambassadors at UNESCO to his Togolese counterpart Ambassador Sankardja Lare-Sambiani.

In his turn-over remarks Ambassadors Allen thanked his colleagues for the level of support they accorded him and the accomplishments they achieved during his tenure as the chair of the group.

Ambassador Allen called on his colleagues to give to the new chairman of the group, Ambassador Lare-Sambiani, their full cooperation as he takes on the administration of the group in the year ahead.

In his acceptance remarks, Ambassador Lare-Sambiani emphasied the need to work for the general good of the organization by seeking consultations in the effective running of the group.

Ambassador Lare-Sambiani promised to coordinate his activities with his colleagues so that important issues affecting the West Africa Sub-region can be addressed and promoted.

According to the protocol of the ECOWAS Group of Ambassador at UNESCO, the country currently chairing the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State automatically becomes the chair of the sub-regional group of ambassadors and permanent delegates at UNESCO.

In Monrovia, Liberia in July, the Authority of ECOWAS’ Heads of State and Government unanimously elected the Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe at its 51th Summit of ECOWAS.

Ambassador Allen replaced his Senegalese counterpart Ambassador Abdou Sourang, whose tenure expired in June 2016.

In separate remarks, the ambassadors of Nigeria, Benin, Cote D’Ivore, Mali and Senegal as well as representatives from Ghana, Guinea and Burkina Faso praised the outgoing chairman, Ambassador Allen, for promoting the interest of the group and for ably representing their interest.

They said Ambassador Allen demonstrated high level of commitment and held consultations, which are qualities of a good leader, something they said made the group to sail through in their activities and programs over the last period of his chairmanship.

Isaac Yeah