Activity Is Not Impact – Liberia news The New Dawn Liberia, premier resource for latest news

Foreign-policy adviser urges a whole-of-government plan so December’s global spotlight leaves a lasting national legacy

MONROVIA, LIBERIA — Liberia should establish measurable national objectives for its December presidency of the United Nations Security Council and assess what remains after the one-month leadership role ends, Ambassador-at-Large B. Elias Shoniyin has said.

In a policy-focused address at the second George W. Wallace, Jr. Ambassadorial Lecture Series, Shoniyin warned against measuring diplomacy only by meetings attended, visits made, statements issued or agreements announced. “Activity is not impact,” he said. A successful presidency, he argued, is one that leaves Liberia diplomatically and institutionally stronger than it was before.

Liberia is currently serving on the UN Security Council and is due to take the rotating presidency in December. Shoniyin said preparation for that responsibility cannot remain solely with Liberia’s Permanent Mission in New York or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Instead, the presidency should be organized as a whole-of-government national project.

While Foreign Affairs must lead the diplomatic architecture, he said, the Ministries of Finance and Development Planning and Commerce and Industry, the National Investment Commission, sector ministries, foreign missions, academia, the private sector, the media and the diaspora all have roles to play. Investment opportunities must be prepared rather than improvised, messages must be coherent and each institution must understand the results it is expected to deliver.

Shoniyin proposed a practical scorecard for evaluating the presidency. Liberia should ask which peace-and-security priorities it advanced; which African positions it elevated; which bilateral relationships became stronger; what investment and development partnerships were generated; what educational or technological cooperation began; how diaspora networks were mobilized; what skills the Foreign Service acquired; and how the country’s international reputation changed.

The lecture series is a flagship intellectual platform of the Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute and is named in honor of Amb. George W. Wallace, Jr., who spoke at the event. Its presentations are intended to be compiled as reference material for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, giving the discussions value beyond the day of delivery.

Other speakers and high-level participants included Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti; former Foreign Minister Olubanke King Akerele; House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Nehker E. Gaye; UNDP Resident Representative Aliou Mamadou Dia; Cllr. Jallah A. Barbu, Executive Director of the War and Economic Crimes Court; and Amb. Soulay Daramy, Executive Director of Sierra Leone’s Foreign Service Academy. Their topics connected Council leadership to women’s international influence, legislation, development, national healing and regional experience.

Shoniyin drew a distinction between presidency and legacy. The presidency lasts one month, he said, but diplomatic relationships can last decades; expertise gained by Liberian diplomats can strengthen the Foreign Service for generations; and conversations initiated under the global spotlight can mature into investments, partnerships and future international appointments.

He concluded that Liberia must convert diplomatic presence into influence, influence into strategic partnerships and partnerships into tangible national progress. When the December presidency ends, he said, Liberia’s relevance, relationships, institutional capacity and benefits to citizens should remain.