{"id":124936,"date":"2026-01-18T15:47:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T15:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/?p=124936"},"modified":"2026-01-18T15:47:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T15:47:48","slug":"ecowas-resident-representative-and-liberias-first-lady-strengthen-collaboration-on-women-and-youth-in-peace-security-and-political-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/?p=124936","title":{"rendered":"ECOWAS RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE AND LIBERIA\u2019S FIRST LADY STRENGTHEN COLLABORATION ON WOMEN AND YOUTH IN PEACE, SECURITY AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Monrovia, Liberia \u2013 16<sup>th<\/sup> January 2026 <\/strong>\u2013 The ECOWAS Resident Representative to Liberia, H.E. Josephine NKRUMAH paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Kartumu Y. BOAKAI, First lady of the Republic of Liberia for a high-level consultative meeting yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The discussions centered on leveraging Liberia\u2019s pivotal role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to advance regional peace, security, and the critical agenda of women and youth in peace and security. Women and youth in peace and security were two cardinal campaign messages that Liberia championed in its bid for the UNSC non-permanent seat. Both parties explored synergies between Liberia\u2019s international diplomatic engagements and ECOWAS\u2019 regional frameworks to strengthen policies that promote gender equality and youth inclusion particularly in the sphere of political participation and leadership.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A key focus of the meeting was the upcoming\u00a0<strong>Regional Consultation on Political Participation and Leadership of Women and Youth in West Africa to hold from the 10<sup>th<\/sup> -14<sup>th<\/sup> February 2026 in Accra, Ghana organized by the ECOWAS Gender Development Center (EDGC) and its partners.<\/strong> This strategic consultation is a cornerstone of the\u00a0<strong>Legacy Project\/ECOWAS 50th Anniversary Commemorative Project on Gender Parity in Elected Bodies<\/strong> <strong>in ECOWAS Member States (2025-2035).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The project aims to consolidate the Community\u2019s achievements in democratic governance, while laying the foundations for a regional framework promoting equal opportunities for women and men in the political sphere.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It also aims to adopt a model law\/guide which, if adopted by Member States, would promote reforms that will strengthen the political participation and leadership of women and young people in the region\u2019s political arena by 2035.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In recognition of her unwavering advocacy and national leadership, the First Lady has been formally invited to serve in a\u00a0<strong>high-level advocacy role<\/strong>\u00a0at the Dialogue. In this capacity, she will lend her voice and influence to champion the adoption of progressive policies, share Liberia\u2019s experiences, and mobilize political will to transform the landscape of political representation in West Africa.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>H.E. Madam Nkrumah commended the First Lady for her dedication to national and regional development, stating,\u00a0<em>\u201cThe First Lady\u2019s commitment aligns perfectly with ECOWAS\u2019s vision for an inclusive and peaceful region. Her advocacy at this critical Dialogue will be instrumental in turning the ideals of gender parity into a tangible reality for West Africa.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The First Lady, Madam Boakai, expressed her gratitude for the invitation and reaffirmed her commitment to the cause.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to deepen collaboration between the Office of the First Lady and the ECOWAS Commission in advancing peace, security, and gender equality across West Africa.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Monrovia, Liberia \u2013 16th January 2026 \u2013 The ECOWAS Resident Representative to Liberia, H.E. Josephine NKRUMAH paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Kartumu Y. BOAKAI, First lady of the Republic of Liberia for a high-level consultative meeting yesterday. &nbsp; The discussions centered on leveraging Liberia\u2019s pivotal role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":124946,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[300,480,12,479,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-news","category-info-cedeao-2","category-news","category-photos-galerie-cedeao-2","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124949,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124936\/revisions\/124949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/124946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecowas.int\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}