Bilateral / Multilateral Relations

Sierra Leone has both bilateral and multilateral relations with many sovereign states, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Sierra Leone is a member of the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), Mano River Union (MRU), Commonwealth, African Development Bank (AfDB),Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Sierra Leone is the 100 th member of the UN, the world’s largest diplomatic organisation. Formed in 1945, in the aftermath of World War 11, the UN comprises an overwhelming majority of the world nations. The UN was founded by representative of 51 countries, and today counts 193 member states. Sierra Leone became a member on the 27 th September 1961, five months after gaining independence from the United Kingdom.
Sierra Leone was part of the 32 sovereign states that agreed to establish the Organization of Africa Unity, now known as the African Union, on May 25th 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Since then, the country has established diplomatic relations with almost all member states and has set up Embassies/High Commissions in many of the aforementioned states.
Sierra Leone is a founding member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which was created by the Treaty of Lagos, in Lagos, Nigeria, on May 28 th , 1975. There are currently 15 member states in ECOWAS and its prime objective is to promote economic trade, national cooperation and monetary union for growth and development among member states. Sierra Leone is also a founding member of the Mano River Union along with Guinea and Liberia which was formed in October 1973 to implement development projects and promote regional economic integration between the three nations.