New York, April 23, 2015

PGA congratulates its National Group in Liberia for its tireless efforts over the past years which made an important contribution leading to the deposit on April 21, 2015 of the Instrument of Ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty by the Government of Liberia at the United Nations in New York.

PGA Members, Hon. Saywah Dunah, MP and Hon. Gabriel Smith, MP.... ''We are well pleased to hear that the Government of Liberia has yesterday deposited its Instrument of Ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty. The PGA National Group in the House of Representatives of Liberia, of which we are longstanding Members, has ceaselessly and assiduously supported, first, the adoption of the ATT, subsequently its signature and now its ratification. We in Liberia know only too well the absolute human devastation caused by the inadequate regulation of certain conventional weapons at the international level. Today we remember the thousands of our fellow countrymen who lost their lives in our recent civil wars. We congratulate the Government of Liberia on the occasion of its ratification of the ATT, but we also urge her to swiftly and fully implement the treaty so that it can have immediate effect."

Former Senator and PGA Member, Franklin Siakor.... '"I am very happy to hear that finally, my country, Liberia, has ratified the ATT. Having attended all of the ATT Preparatory Committee meetings in New York, facilitated by PGA, including making a Statement on behalf of Liberia, I know the ATT will go a long way towards  preventing arms producers from selling to brutal dictators."