Monrovia-Several years after their remarkable contributions to the end of the civil war, Liberian women remain persistent in their determination for a more free, just, prosperous, democratic and developed country. Back home and on the international stage, their voices are not just reveling, but reverberating with purpose, conscious of their responsibilities as cherished and endowed citizens with equal rights and privileges. In the spirit of the anti-war campaign, they are at the United Nations in New York, along with other officials of government, including president Joseph Boakai, preaching Liberia and setting the agenda for its future as well as its younger generation. As The New Republic reports, the essence is to make Liberia’s case.
Liberia is involved in slew of engagements on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), making enormous strides intended to turn and capture the attention of the world to its vision and many challenges.
On Monday, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and several senior Liberian government officials, diplomats, women leaders, peacebuilders and civil society representatives participated in a high-level discussion on women, peace and security.
The event, held at the United Nations Headquarters, brought together representatives from Liberia and other countries to highlight the contributions of women to peacebuilding, conflict prevention and sustaining peace, while reflecting on Liberia’s transition from years of civil conflict to peace.
The high-level gathering was organized by the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection under the theme, “From Pioneers to Global Leaders: Liberia’s Journey in Women, Peace & Security.”
Ambassadors and representatives from Austria, Costa Rica, The Gambia and Sierra Leone, among other countries, are also attending the event.
The discussion provides a platform for participants to reflect on Liberia’s experience in advancing women’s participation in peacebuilding and national development, while examining the broader role of women in preventing conflicts and promoting sustainable peace.
Liberia’s participation comes as the country continues to highlight its post-war peacebuilding experience and the contributions of women to the country’s peace process and democratic development.
Earlier on Monday, Liberia’s Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of Cyprus aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.
The signing forms part of Liberia’s diplomatic engagements on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, where the Liberian delegation is holding a series of bilateral and multilateral engagements.
President Boakai and members of his delegation are in New York for the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which brings together world leaders and senior government officials to deliberate on global issues, including peace and security, development and international cooperation.
However, reading from the happenings in New York, Liberians at home and abroad appeared convinced that Liberia is not just being represented.
It is being led, powerfully and eloquently, by its women, speaking with one voice, reminding the world of its future and duties, what lies ahead of its youthful generations.
From the Security Council chamber to the African Union Observer Mission, from high-level panels on youth, peace and security to bilateral engagements with global partners, Liberian women are lifting their voices, shaping global diplomacy, and reminding the world that Liberia’s greatest post-war export is women-led peace.
It is a moment that blends sacrifice and statecraft built on years of struggle in market stalls, refugee camps, and protest lines that have now become seats at the world’s highest table.
At the center of Liberia’s global presence is Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti, a humanitarian, diplomat, who is now regarded as the face of Liberia’s foreign policy.
In her second year as Foreign Minister, Nyanti is credited for turning Liberia’s two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council into a platform for small states, post-conflict recovery, and women, peace and security.
In New York, she is carrying three messages at once, amongst them that Liberia has moved from being a case on the Security Council agenda to a decision-maker on it, that peace must be rooted in people, especially young people and women, and that Africa must not be lectured about peace, but listened to.
It was Nyanti who launched Liberia’s 10-year PATHWAYS Framework for Youth, Peace and Security at the AU Mission on September 18, declaring “We are building the pathways that will elevate generations.”
For many diplomats who knew Liberia during its war years, the symbolism is striking that a Liberian woman, who once managed humanitarian responses in South Sudan and elsewhere for the UN, now speaking for Liberia at the Council.
Reading from the events, beside her is Youth and Sports Minister Atty. Cornelia Wonkerleh Kruah, who is young, legal-minded, and blunt about accountability.
Kruah has reframed Liberia’s youth conversation from one of problems to one of pathways.
Her declaration in New York, “By 2035, every young Liberian should have a pathway to achieve their goals,” is not just a slogan.
It is a policy promise with measurable targets. Kruah, the youngest Liberian to serve in the capacity of Youth and Sports Minister, represents a new generation of Liberian women in governance, technocratic, rights-based, and unafraid to demand that international partners invest in evidence, not just events.
If Nyanti is the diplomat and Kruah is the policy driver, then 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee remains Liberia’s moral conscience.
In New York this week, Gbowee did what she has always done, challenged power, including Liberian power.
At the PATHWAYS launch, she called for nationwide town halls to popularize the framework and urged the Government of Liberia to commit 50 percent domestic funding for its implementation.
“Invest in your own youth agenda before asking others to invest,” her message implied – a demand for ownership that has defined her activism since the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped end Liberia’s civil war.
Also is Leymah Gbowee, one of Liberia’s nobel peace laureate, whose presence in New York reportedly connects Liberia’s past sacrifice to its present values that peace without women is not peace, and development without accountability is not development.
Diplomats believe the glow in New York reflects a deeper tapestry at home and abroad where, at the Security Council, Liberia’s women-led diplomacy is pushing youth, peace and security as a priority for its December presidency of the Council, with support from DPPA and UNOWAS.
In the Security Sector, their remarkable imprints are laudably felt. From Ret. Brig. Gen. Geraldine George, who just turned over the Ministry of Defense after a trailblazing tenure as Liberia’s first female Defense Minister, to women in the AFL and LNP, Liberian women are now in rooms where security decisions are made.
In Justice and Governance, theirs is the same. Women like former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott, and civil society leaders, continue to shape rule-of-law debates despite political risks.
In the economy, they are emboldened, challenging the odds to meet demands placed on them.
Market women, who sustained Liberia during the war, remain the backbone of the domestic revenue the country now celebrates, the over US$1 billion milestone that is ultimately built on their daily sales.
Liberian women’s rise to the global stage was not gifted. It was earned by surviving a 14-year civil war where rape was used as a weapon.
Not only that, they sat in the rain at Fish Market, demanding peace from warlords, and rebuilt homes from ashes, sent children to school with nothing, and kept communities together when the state collapsed.
Their values, the resilience, community, faith, and an insistence on peace with justice, are now what they bring to international diplomacy.
As one UN official said at the AU Mission this week: “Liberia is not just talking about the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Liberia is the Women, Peace and Security agenda.”
And as the 81st UNGA continues, the world is listening – not just because Liberia is on the Security Council, but because Liberian women are finally leading the conversation.
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