Conakry, 12 October 2017. The resident representative of the President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Guinea, Mrs. Liliane Alapini, has reiterated the regional organisation’s commitment and determination to come alongside the country in the positive stride towards sustainable socio-economic development.

She made this statement in Conakry on Thursday 12 October 2017 at a press briefing with local, regional and international media outlets on ECOWAS Vision 2020 and the development of Guinea.

Mrs. Alapini recalled ECOWAS role in recent years during elections across West Africa and Guinea which, she opined, contributed towards the 2010 presidential elections that produced the nation’s first democratically elected president.

She also discussed the organisation of the 2015 presidential election, and the 2013 legislative elections as well as the ongoing elections, expressing the hope that the latter would also be peaceful and transparent.

Aside from Guinea, Mrs. Alapini shared the ECOWAS Vision 2020 with the journalists.

According to her, the vision seeks to “create a borderless, peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region, built on good governance and where people have the capacity to access and harness its resources through the creation of opportunities for sustainable development and environmental preservation”.

She called for willing and open collaboration on the part of the media to enhance partnership with ECOWAS representation in the country, a contributing factor to the attainment of the goals of the regional organisation’s Vision 2020.

Mrs. Alapini, on behalf of the ECOWAS Commission President Marcel de Souza, urged the Guinean media to engage a culture of objective and transparent reporting, and avoid instability in the region likely to result from poorly disseminated information.