- Liberia elected to UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for the first time in 64 years
- Liberia obtained 181 of the 188 votes cast for the seat and will serve for two years
- Senior diplomats say it’s “a sign of Liberia’s growing regional influence”
By Anthony Stephens, senior correspondent with New Narratives
Liberia has overwhelmingly won a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council—64 years after it first held the role. One hundred and eighty-one of the 188 member states of the UN voted for Liberia.
The vote marked a historic milestone for the country, coming nearly 22 years after the end of its civil wars which killed 250,000 people and displaced millions. The end of the wars brought one of the world’s largest UN peacekeeping missions to the country. The mission only withdrew in 2018. The Democratic Republic of Congo, a country still dealing with conflict and still hosting a peacekeeping mission, was also elected to the role for a 2-year period from 2025-2027. Bahrain, Colombia and Latvia were the other non-permanent members elected.
The Security Council is the most powerful body in the UN—maintaining global peace and security. The body comprises 15 members, 5 of which are permanent—US, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia. These permanent members have the power to veto any votes.
The 10 non-permanent members, who are elected according to regional groupings, hold rotational seats. Each year, five are elected for two years. Liberia and the four other countries elected this year will join Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia, which were elected last year. Liberia’s election followed more than a year of a rigorous campaign by the Joseph Boakai-led government across different continents, including Africa, Europe and the Americas.
The Liberian government was partially shutdown Tuesday as the vote took place. The president joined senior foreign diplomats, Madam Sara Beysolow Nyanti, his foreign minister, and a sea of senior members of his government, including Jeremiah Koung, his Vice President, Richard Nagbe Koon, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, Liberian senate pro tempore, and other lawmakers and cabinet officials at the Foreign Ministry on Capitol Hill to watch live proceedings of the vote. At the United Nations’ headquarters in New York, another group of senior Liberian government officials, including Cllr. Deweh Gray, deputy foreign minister and Darius Dillon, chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, gathered to make the last pitch for the vote.
The vote dominated radio talks shows across the day. In the lead up to the vote, radio stations and newspapers, made the vote a signature of their reporting, with Liberians openly expressing support for their country’s bid.
In a live broadcast, President Boakai paid tribute to his fellow compatriots for their support, including former president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, his boss for 12 years when he was vice president, and the country’s first post-war president.
“Today’s election affirms Liberia is again a credible and relevant voice on the world stage,” said Boakai. “Today’s election is a testament to our nation’s journey toward peace and reconciliation. We have overcome conflict and are poised to contribute meaningfully to global peace-building and conflict resolution. It validates Liberia’s commitment to international peace and our readiness to contribute meaningfully at the highest level.”
“Liberia will be a principled and dependable voice on the Council,” he said. “We will advocate for Africa, the developing world, and inclusive, lasting peace. Drawing from our own experience of reconciliation and nation building, we will promote conflict prevention, support peacekeeping reform, and champion the protection of civilians, especially women and children. Liberia will also continue its growing role as a troop-contributing country to UN missions. To our African brothers and sisters, we pledge to be your voice. To the Global South, we offer solidarity. And to all UN members, we promise constructive engagement and bridge-building diplomacy rooted in Liberia’s humility, honesty, and freedom values.”
International Community Celebrates Liberia’s Win
Many in the international community stood with Liberia in its campaign for a seat and gladly celebrated its victory today. Ambassador Mark Toner, US ambassador to Liberia, said it was “an enormous achievement for all of Liberia, and a clear recognition of the progress the country has made in the past 22 years.”
“It is also a sign of Liberia’s growing regional influence,” said Toner in a WhatsApp message to FrontPage Africa/New Narratives. “As a longstanding partner, the United States will work to support Liberia as it assumes this new role.”
“I think it’s great,” said Ambassador Nona Deprez, head of the European Union delegation to Liberia, on the win in a call with FPA/NN WhatsApp. “They’ve done a great campaign under the leadership of the president and the minister of foreign affairs and also, they’ve done a good job at bringing everyone in and also at making this something for the Liberian people… of involving also the Liberian people in this campaign. So, I think it’s great. I think it’s good for Liberia’s standing in the world.”
A Long Road to Redemption
Liberia’s journey to this point has been anything but straightforward. From 1989 to 2003, back-to-back civil wars devastated the country, causing death and destructions to its infrastructure. The Security Council itself imposed sanctions, and travel bans on Liberian warlords, monitored arms embargoes, and oversaw postwar reconstruction. Critics warn that the country’s institutions remain fragile, with corruption and underfunded public services still undermining public confidence. Liberia’s election comes at a time the country is also pushing to establish a war and economic crimes court to hold accountable those accused of committing widespread human rights violations.
Last month, the president directed that the Office for the courts should be given $US2 million annually to operate, though Jallah Barbu, executive director of the Office, said he’s yet to receive the funds. Critics and donors have raised questions about the lack of a roadmap – a key document needed to the courts and the country’s overall transitional justice process. Ambassador Toner reaffirmed his country’s support to the courts.
“We support President Boakai’s efforts to address Liberia’s war and economic crimes through the War and Economic Crimes Court,” said Toner. “Of course, Liberia’s experience as a nation that rose from the ashes of war to become a stable democracy will inform its priorities in its new role.”
Deprez shared Toner’s sentiments.
“I think that’s an important step that Liberia has taken, the president has taken. It has been applauded by the world,” said Deprez. “This is important to end impunity. But it is of course a Liberian initiative and also very important, it has to be Liberian-led. Of course, the EU supports the victim centers, Liberian-led transitional justice process. This is not only about criminal justice, but it’s also about memorization, about reparation and about never again.”
Liberia’s biggest test yet?
While Liberia has been widely celebrated for its re-election to the Security Council, critics have questioned the country’s preparedness to navigate the diplomatic demands of the Council, which require both technical expertise and strategic alliances. Experts say this presents the recovering country’s biggest test since the war. In an email to FPA/NN, Daniel Forti, senior analyst, UN advocacy and research at the International Crisis Group, said the vote came at “a turbulent moment for both the Security Council and the UN more widely.”
“Although Liberia won’t be able to single-handedly change many of the dynamics that will shape the coming months at the UN, the country has both an opportunity and the responsibility to demonstrate the UN’s continued relevance on international peace and security,” said Forti. “Liberia’s election should reinforce the idea that countries committed to the peaceful settlements of their long-standing conflicts will have a perspective that other countries value. On this point, Liberia can follow in the footsteps of its neighbor Sierra Leone, the country it is replacing on the Council in 2026. Liberia can also offer a model for positive, long-term engagement between the UN and conflict affected countries, credibility that is sorely needed on the Security Council at a moment when many countries are skeptical of assistance from UN peace operations.”
Deprez said although the new role “will be very demanding for Liberia,” it will also be “good because it will provide a lot of experience and capacity building for the Liberian diplomats in New York, but also in Monrovia and this will be of a more lasting effect beyond the mandate at the Security Council. There will be requests for preparing the meetings, having side meetings, making sure that meetings are held with allies. So, this is a very important mandate and it’s an honor for Liberia, but it’s also an honor for the world to have Liberia on the Security Council.”
Toner said, “the foreign minister is very clear-eyed about the responsibilities and increased workload that will come with the seat and so I will let her speak to Liberia’s needs in terms of personnel and technical needs.”
Throughout the course of the campaign, the Liberian government repeatedly expressed its preparedness for the tasks at the Security Council.
This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the “Investigating Liberia” project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia. The funder had no say in the story’s content.
