Pres. Sirleaf to chair last major confab here
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will next week host and chair the inaugural meeting of the High Level Panel on Migration (HLPM), which expected to be the last major international conference hosted by her as President.
The meeting will take place in Monrovia on January 15, 2018.The High-level Panel on Migration was established at the Ninth Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, which took place in Addis Ababa in April 2016.
In a statement issued by the Executive Mansion Wednesday, the overall objective of the High-level Panel is to affirm Africa’s commitment to global objectives and values on migration, and harness migration for Africa’s development in the context of international cooperation. The Panel is composed of fifteen eminent persons, all appointed in their own capacity, and include representatives of government, the private sector, academia and civil society.
Members of the Panel are drawn from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Participants at this HLPM meeting will include the UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the ECA, Dr. Vera Songwe; the Deputy Executive Secretary, Dr. Abdalla Hamdok;the President of the African Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway H.E. Knut Vollebaek; Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede Chairman, Coronation Capital Ltd, Nigeria; the founder of the African Diaspora Network in the USA, Ms. Almaz Negash; Ms. Danisa E. Baloyi, Black Business Counsel, South Africa; and Assistant Director General and Regional Director for Africa, International Labour Organization, Ms. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjowon.
President Sirleaf will continue to chair the HLPM until July 2018, when the Panel shall submit its report to Assembly of African Union Heads of State. The meeting in being held in Monrovia since the President wants to avoid any foreign travel during this transitional period.
