Boakai To Chair Un Security Council Debate On Maritime Security

Monrovia, Liberia: President Joseph Nyuma Boakai is expected to chair a high-level United Nations Security Council debate on maritime security on December 3, 2026, as Liberia continues its two-year membership on the Council.

Foreign Affairs Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti announced the planned debate on Monday, October 26, while outlining Liberia’s diplomatic achievements and its history at the United Nations.

“We go to the Security Council with our president sitting on December 3, 2026, to chair the high-level debate, our signature program on maritime security,” Nyanti said.

Liberia was elected to the Security Council in June 2025, receiving 181 votes out of 187, and assumed its seat on January 1, 2026. The country had not previously been elected to the Council, although it occupied a seat for one year in 1961 following a deadlock in the election of a non-permanent member.

Nyanti said Liberia’s current position reflects decades of diplomatic engagement, including the country’s participation in the founding of the United Nations in 1945 as one of four African countries that signed the UN Charter.

She also recalled Liberia’s role in opposing apartheid alongside Ethiopia between 1960 and 1966, including legal challenges before the International Court of Justice over the extension of apartheid into Namibia.

The minister highlighted Liberia’s difficult history with the Security Council, recalling the 1992 arms embargo under Resolution 788 and sanctions involving diamonds, timber, travel and arms imposed through Resolutions 1343 and 1521 between 2001 and 2003.

She said Liberia’s subsequent progress toward peace and democratic governance was an important part of the history the country carried into its current Security Council membership.

Nyanti recalled the 2003 peace campaign led by Liberian women, who brought Christian and Muslim women together to pray and protest for an end to the civil conflict. That same year, the United Nations Mission in Liberia was established following the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

She also cited Liberia’s peaceful elections and transfers of power in 2005, 2011, 2017 and 2023, the lifting of remaining UN sanctions in 2016, and the closure of UNMIL in 2018.

The minister said Liberia would approach its Security Council role with humility, recognizing the contributions of those who helped the country reach this point.

“We go there knowing that this is just yet another step in a long road of Liberia’s diplomacy, international relations, but sitting at the table that’s now shaping the new world order,” she said.

During the ceremony, Nyanti also unveiled a billboard recognizing President Boakai as Liberia’s “foreign policy legacy president.”

She listed Liberia’s election to the Security Council, the president’s planned chairmanship of the December 3 debate, maritime diplomacy, foreign visa extensions, the reopening of an embassy that had been closed for 35 years, and the establishment of diplomatic relations with more than eight countries among the administration’s foreign policy achievements.

She also cited Liberia’s presidency of the ECOWAS Court, which she described as a first in the regional institution’s 51-year history.

Nyanti said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of State had worked together on the recognition of the president’s foreign policy record. She added that four more billboards would be erected at strategic locations.

Ahead of the December debate, the minister announced several diplomatic and peacebuilding activities.

A diplomatic briefing and cocktail for members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps is scheduled for October 30. On November 4 and 5, the Ministry of State is expected to lead the first steering committee meeting for the proposed Peace and Reconciliation Museum, with guests from South Africa and Rwanda. A war memorial unveiling is also planned for November 5.

Liberia is expected to launch what Nyanti described as Africa’s first gender-responsive foreign policy, also called a feminist foreign policy, on November 17. A maritime safety and security event is scheduled for November 19.

Other activities include a model UN Security Council debate with young people on November 20, followed that evening by a presidential dinner and the launch of a compendium of Liberia’s peace agreements compiled by students of the Foreign Service Institute. An interreligious peace prayer is scheduled for November 22.

Nyanti said Liberia’s participation in the Security Council offered an opportunity to draw on its history and contribute to international discussions on emerging global challenges.

She said the country would take its place with pride and dignity as it prepares for President Boakai to chair the high-level debate on maritime security.