“We Will Lead, Not Follow” — Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti Says Liberia’s December Presidency of UN Security Council Will Be a Defining Moment to Demonstrate Independent Leadership, Showcase National Experience and Shape Global Peace Agenda

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NEW YORK, September 21, 2026 — Liberia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mme. Sara Beysolow Nyanti, has declared that Liberia’s upcoming Presidency of the United Nations Security Council in December will be a moment for the country to demonstrate bold and independent leadership, not to follow the agenda of others.

Speaking to journalists at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on the margins of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA81), Minister Nyanti said Liberia will use its presidency to bring its own lived experience, hard-won expertise, and distinct national perspective to the world’s most powerful security body.

“Liberia’s presidency of the Security Council will not be symbolic.

It will be substantive. We will lead, not follow,” Foreign Minister Nyanti told journalists.

The Minister emphasized that Liberia’s transition from being on the Security Council’s agenda for fourteen years during its civil conflict to now presiding over the same Council is a powerful story of resilience, peacebuilding, and democratic recovery that the world can learn from.

According to Minister Nyanti, Liberia will not approach the Council as a passive member but as a country with practical lessons on conflict prevention, women-led peacebuilding, youth inclusion, post-conflict reconciliation, and the operationalization of justice mechanisms such as the War and Economic Crimes Court.

“Liberia has a unique story and a unique value proposition.

We have moved from war to peace, from peacekeeping to peacebuilding, from being a subject of the Council’s concern to a member shaping its decisions.

In December, we will bring that experience to the table,” she said.

Foreign Minister Nyanti noted that under President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s ARREST Agenda, Liberia’s foreign policy is anchored on economic diplomacy, principled leadership, and Liberia’s re-emergence as a credible voice on global peace and security issues, particularly in West Africa where the sub-region faces democratic reversals, transnational crime, and insecurity.

She added that Liberia’s presidency will prioritize preventive diplomacy, women, peace and security, climate and security linkages, and locally-led solutions — drawing heavily on Liberia’s own innovations such as the Peace Hut model.

“Liberia will not be in the presidency to echo others.

We will be there to lead with our own ideas, grounded in our national experience and our commitment to a more just and peaceful world,” Minister Nyanti stressed.

Liberia was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2026-2027 term and will assume the rotational presidency of the Council in December 2026 — a historic moment marking the country’s return to the center of global security governance after decades.