and President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The two bodies also honored the West African sub-regional body, which President Sirleaf chairs, during the formal opening of the 28th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the AU.

According to a dispatch from Addis Ababa, the honor was conferred by both the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.

The out-going Chairperson of the African Union Authority, President Idriss Deby of Chad also joined in the ceremony.

"Let me call on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and my sister to join me on the podium. ECOWAS, under your excellent leadership has made us all very proud. ECOWAS defended the values and principles of the African Union by the quality of your intervention in The Gambia.

“Thanks to all of the leaders of ECOWAS, but particularly to President Sirleaf because it was under her leadership that a potentially explosive situation was peacefully resolved", out-going AUC Chairperson Zuma told the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government amidst huge applause from the audience.

Madam Zuma noted that President Sirleaf is “a pioneer and inspiration to women and men of the world, particularly the women of Africa as the first ever elected female President on the African continent.”

She hoped that all of Africa and the rest of the world can follow the wonderful and professional example of ECOWAS in conflict prevention and resolution.

President Sirleaf was then brought to the podium and presented the award jointly by Dr. Zuma and President Idriss Deby.

Consistent with the summit's theme "Harnessing the demographic dividend through investments in youth", Dr. Zuma decried the huge unemployment among000 the young people of the continent and indicated that the young people must be given comparative advantage and must also be translated into demographic dividends.

She announced that a special AU Envoy on Youth will be named this year to advocate for and work on issues affecting young people.

For his part, the new Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, noted: "Let me join the out-going Chairperson of the African Union Commission in recognizing the extraordinary leadership of President Sirleaf and ECOWAS in conflict prevention and resolution.

“It is my hope that all of us can learn from the fine example of President Sirleaf and the West African sub-regional body," he concluded.
LINA PR/PTK