West Africa Ivory Coast, and a succession of military coups in Ghana and Burkina Faso. Since the end of colonialism, the region has been the stage for some brutal conflicts, including: The Economic Community of West African States, established in May 1975, has defined the region of West Africa since 1999 as including the following 15 states: Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Western Africa includes the preceding states with the addition of Mauritania (which withdrew from ECOWAS in 1999), comprising an area of approximately 6.1 million square km. The UN region also includes the island of Saint Helena, a British overseas
International Contact Group on Liberia International Contact Group on Liberia The International Contact Group on Liberia (ICGL) is composed of members from the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union, World Bank, United States, Ghana, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Sweden. The ICGL was formed from a need for an international and regional response to the Second Liberian Civil War. The ICGL was cited by the Accra Comprehensive Peace Accord with a number of tasks, most notably ensuring the faithful implementation of the accord by all parties. In September 2005, the ICGL and the Government of Liberia signed GEMAP,