Liberia will chair the UN Security Council for the first time in 65 years
President Boakai will lead a debate on maritime security on 3 December, a decade after the last UN sanctions on the country were lifted.
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Monrovia — Liberia takes the presidency of the United Nations Security Council in December, the first time it has held the chair since 1961. President Joseph Nyuma Boakai is due to lead a high-level debate on maritime security on 3 December.
The government launched its "Road to the UN Security Council Presidency" at the Foreign Ministry on UN Day. Boakai said Liberia would bring its own experience of ending a civil war, reconciling and rebuilding to the council's work on peace and security, and that developing countries must have a real say in decisions that affect them.
Liberia was elected in 2025 to a seat for 2026–2027. The presidency rotates monthly among the 15 members.
From sanctions to the chair
Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti said the presidency belongs to the nation, not to one government. She recalled that during the civil wars the council placed sanctions on Liberia's arms, diamonds, timber and travel, and set that against what came after:
- the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, whose campaign helped end the war;
- peaceful transfers of power and the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize shared by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee;
- the lifting of the last UN sanctions in 2016.
The ministry also honoured 11 former foreign ministers and senior diplomats.
Source: The Liberian Investigator via AllAfrica, 29 October 2026.
