‘Liberia Now a Regional, Global Voice on Peace, Climate, and Reform’ | News

Liberia is using its first year on the United Nations Security Council to push a five-point diplomatic agenda covering peace and security, climate resilience, and institutional reform, Foreign Affairs Minister H.E. Sara Beysolow Nyanti said. The country is gearing up for a series of high-profile Security Council events in New York this September, ahead of assuming the Council presidency in December 2026.

Liberia currently holds a non-permanent seat on the Security Council. Ambassador Lewis Brown handles day-to-day representation on the ground in New York, while Minister Nyanti steps in for high-level engagements requiring ministerial presence. She said Liberia has sustained its Council role through diplomatic visits and engagements aimed at gathering firsthand information to support evidence-based decision-making.

Officials have been emphatic that the seat “represents the country, not any one official.” While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the diplomatic face of Liberia’s Council engagement, the substance behind each policy priority is driven by the country’s sectoral ministries.

Liberia’s Council engagement rests on five campaign priorities; Women, peace, and security, positioning gender inclusion as central to conflict prevention and resolution; Youth, peace, and security, elevating young people’s role in peacebuilding; Climate, conflict, and natural resources, addressing how environmental pressures intersect with regional stability; UN Security Council reform, including peacekeeping reform and structural changes to how the Council operates; Sub-regional bloc consideration, advocating for resolutions to be weighed at the regional level, such as through the Mano River Union, rather than country by country

On the last point, Minister Nyanti said the push reflects Liberia’s own regional experience as a Mano River Union member, where instability in one country tends to ripple across the bloc. She said Liberia has extended that logic to emerging sub-regional considerations as well.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry will facilitate several Security Council-specific events in New York this September distinct, officials stressed, from the concurrent UN General Assembly proceedings, even though both draw on the same concentration of world leaders in the city.

Sector ministers will headline signature events tied to the five priorities: the Minister of Gender will address women, peace, and security; Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo will lead on climate, conflict, and natural resources; and Minister Kruah will speak on youth development, recreation, and sports opportunities.

The Foreign Affairs Minister said spreading speaking roles across ministries rather than centralizing them in the Foreign Ministry reinforces the message that the Security Council platform belongs to the nation as a whole, while opening avenues for new international partnerships in each issue area.

Liberia is also widening participation beyond government officials: youth representatives and civil society delegates will join the September proceedings, alongside additional measures to include voices unable to travel to New York.

Minister Nyanti tied this international engagement to Liberia’s domestic development blueprint, the Arrested Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID), which she described as the guiding framework for all foreign policy activity. “There is no foreign policy outside of the domestic policy,” she said. In practice, Liberian officials use platforms like the Security Council to showcase progress at home and attract partners and investment aligned with that agenda.

Minister Nyanti pointed to a broader shift in Liberia’s global standing, citing a rise in inbound diplomatic visits and requests for Liberia’s voice in international discussions and candidacies. “It’s a new day,” she said, describing Liberia’s growing role on the world stage, one the government intends to build on as it heads toward its Security Council presidency at the end of 2026.

She emphasized that security issues cross borders, driving Liberia’s push for UN resolutions tailored to entire regional blocs such as the Mano River Union and the Alliance of Sahel States rather than isolated countries. 

To support these goals, the Foreign Ministry will facilitate high-level UNSC signature events during the UN General Assembly in New York this September. These platforms will allow sector leaders to present policy solutions directly to global partners and strengthen international cooperation.

The event will feature President Joseph Nyuma Boakai alongside foreign ministers from Sweden, Norway, Austria, Denmark, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee, and an interactive live webcast connecting global leaders directly with Liberian women at the historic Fish Market peace site in Monrovia.

The event is expected to bring together over 100 international stakeholders, featuring UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs Dr. Felipe Paullier, and includes a diverse delegation of Liberian youth, athletes, artists, and disability advocates.