Monrovia – As the United Nations General Assembly prepares to vote on June 3, Liberia’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC) has garnered unprecedented bipartisan and national support.
By Selma Lomax [email protected]
In a rare show of unity, political actors from across the divide — ruling and opposition — civil society institutions, and ordinary Liberians have rallied behind the campaign.
The vote, scheduled for June 3 during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, is expected to return Liberia to the Security Council for the first time since 1961, when it briefly held a one-year term in a compromise arrangement with Ireland. This time, Liberia is poised to serve a full term, representing West Africa in one of the world’s most powerful decision-making bodies.
The country’s candidacy, backed by the African Union (AU), was formally endorsed at the 44th Ordinary Session of the AU Executive Council in February 2024. Liberia is running unopposed for the West African seat, replacing Sierra Leone and continuing the region’s representation on the 15-member Council.
President Joseph Boakai has personally championed the campaign as a cornerstone of Liberia’s reemergence on the global diplomatic stage. At the forefront of the lobbying efforts is Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti, whose leadership has earned wide praise both domestically and internationally.
Minister Nyanti has led high-level delegations to multiple global capitals and multilateral forums, advocating for Liberia’s return to the Council and underscoring the country’s post-war transformation.
“This is a moment of immense pride for Liberia,” Minister Nyanti said in a recent briefing. “Our campaign is grounded in the principles of peace, cooperation, and global solidarity. Liberia has a story to tell, and now we have the opportunity to tell it at the highest level.”
Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate, expressed her support for Liberia’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
She stated, “I believe that after fourteen years of devastating civil war, a peace process that involved everyone — especially driven by women — twenty-one years of stability, and several election cycles marked by peaceful transitions, Liberia is uniquely positioned to lend her expertise to the UN Security Council, especially at a time when the world is deeply divided and polarized. It is my hope and prayer that our bid will be granted so that Liberia can join other nations in bringing the world closer to peace.”
Also, Gbehzohngar M. Findley, Senator of Grand Bassa County, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Special Envoy of the President of Liberia, on May 27 met with His Excellency Évariste Ndayishimiye, President of the Republic of Burundi.
Senator Findley formally conveyed President Boakai’s message, which included a request for Burundi’s valuable support for Liberia’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2026–2027 term.
Discussions during the meeting focused on strengthening bilateral relations, exploring new areas of cooperation, and reinforcing the spirit of African unity and solidarity. Senator Findley also emphasized Liberia’s willingness to initiate and expand diplomatic engagement with the Republic of Burundi.
He highlighted potential areas for bilateral cooperation in the economic, technical, and trade sectors and extended an invitation for Burundian investment in Liberia. In response, President Ndayishimiye pledged Burundi’s full support for Liberia’s UNSC bid. He expressed his appreciation to President Boakai for seeking support from the Government and people of Burundi and asked that his message of trust and goodwill be conveyed in return. Both parties reaffirmed the mutual respect that has historically defined Liberia-Burundi relations.
One of the most notable features of the campaign has been the broad support it has received from opposition figures and civil society. Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe Jr., a seasoned politician and member of the opposition, has actively campaigned for Liberia’s seat through his position as Head of Liberia’s Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament.
“Today, we made the case for Mama Liberia’s seat at the United Nations Security Council,” Senator Snowe wrote following a recent ECOWAS session. “The President of the ECOWAS Commission responded positively, affirming Liberia as ECOWAS’ sole candidate. This is a national cause, not a partisan one.”
Moriah Yeakula-Kporpor of the Alternative National Congress (ANC) echoed that sentiment, lauding Minister Nyanti’s diplomatic efforts. “From the beginning, we supported this bid because we knew it was in Liberia’s interest, and we had full confidence in the Minister’s leadership,” she stated in a social media post.
ANC political leader Alexander B. Cummings also voiced his support, describing the campaign as “an opportunity for Liberia to assert its relevance in global governance and champion African and regional priorities at the highest level.”
Legislative Support and Civic Mobilization On Capitol Hill, Liberia’s House of Representatives passed a resolution last week throwing its full support behind the bid. Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon praised the campaign as a “unifying national project” and emphasized that Liberia would use its voice on the Council to advocate for small states and developing nations.
Representative Nehker E. Gaye, Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, noted the diplomatic significance of the campaign. “This bid reaffirms Liberia’s legacy of peacekeeping, democracy promotion, and global cooperation,” Gaye said. “We thank the countries that have pledged their support and encourage others to follow.”
Beyond the legislature, the Civil Servant Association of Liberia (CSAL) has mobilized its members in support of the bid. In a public statement issued from Monrovia, the CSAL described President Boakai as “the chief architect of Liberia’s foreign policy” and lauded Minister Nyanti for her “diplomatic stewardship and tireless advocacy.”
To mark the June 3 vote, the CSAL has called on all public servants to wear Liberia’s national colors — red, white, and blue — as a demonstration of national solidarity. “Let us show the world that Liberians are united behind a common purpose,” the release stated.
A Clean Slate Election and Liberia’s Strategic Position Liberia is one of five countries running unopposed for the five available non-permanent UNSC seats. The others are Bahrain (Asia-Pacific), Colombia (Latin America and the Caribbean), Latvia (Eastern Europe), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Africa).
Each regional candidate must still secure a two-thirds majority vote from the 193-member UN General Assembly. While Liberia is the only West African country contesting the seat, its unopposed candidacy does not guarantee automatic election. As such, diplomatic lobbying has continued to ensure maximum support from member states.
Liberia’s bid is particularly significant in that it breaks a decades-old informal tradition of rotating the West African seat between Francophone and Anglophone countries. Following Sierra Leone, another Anglophone nation, Liberia’s candidacy marks a second consecutive departure from this pattern.
However, regional leaders and diplomats have justified the decision on the grounds of Liberia’s commitment to peace, regional cooperation, and post-war recovery.
