Published: September 19, 2026
MONROVIA – Liberia wants every young person in the country to have a clear pathway to opportunity by 2035, and on Friday it took that goal to the United Nations, launching a national youth framework and inviting global partners to invest in it.
Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti launched the PATHWAYs framework, a vision document on youth, peace, security and development, at a high-level side event on the sidelines of the 81st U.N. General Assembly, held at the African Union Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York. The document is meant to open pathways for future generations and mobilize investment behind Liberia’s youth vision for 2035.
Nyanti said the framework brings together work done for young people across Liberia’s 15 counties, gives young Liberians an active role in shaping the country’s future, and places the Ministry of Youth and Sports’ five-year strategic plan and the national youth policy under a single mandate. She said youth, peace and security are a top priority for Liberia on the U.N. Security Council, and stressed the value of amplifying young Liberians’ voices on the global stage.
The framework rests on six interconnected pillars, which Nyanti listed as governance, evidence, the pathways framework, sports, the creative economy and strategic investment.
Together, she said, they are meant to build strong institutions, honest evidence and sustained investment that create real opportunities for young people. She called on international and national partners to join Liberia in building those pathways.
Youth and Sports Minister Cornelia Wonkerleh Kruah said that by 2035 every young Liberian should have a pathway to achieve their goals. She described the framework as Liberia’s public commitment to young people, partners and history, with measurable targets and a timeline for evaluation. Kruah said the reform initiative is transparent and accessible, and invited partners to invest in a plan backed by evidence and progress rather than promises.
She thanked the U.N. Population Fund, the U.N. Development Program, the U.N. Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the U.N. Youth Office and the governments and organizations that have invested in Liberia’s youth agenda.
Diene Keita, U.N. under-secretary-general and executive director of the U.N. Population Fund, praised the 10-year framework and urged young people to act as partners and leaders in building peaceful, inclusive societies.
“Young people are peacebuilders, they are leaders, they are essential partners,” Keita said. She said her agency is a proud supporter of the youth, peace and security agenda, and that investing in young people drives economic growth and builds stable communities. She expressed confidence in Liberia’s readiness to overcome conflict and create pathways to lasting peace.
Felipe Paullier, U.N. assistant secretary-general for youth affairs, said the U.N. is working to support young people’s voices across regions. He called Liberia’s leadership on youth, peace and security at the Security Council, particularly in December, a source of pride and an opportunity for an open debate on the agenda. He said the task now is to connect the real, daily needs of young people to the work of sustaining peace, drawing on opportunities in the arts, culture and sports.
Nathalie Ndongo Seh, director of the Western Africa Division at the U.N. Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, said aligning Liberia’s national action plan with PATHWAYs and the government’s ARREST Agenda is essential. She said the department will help Liberia bring youth, peace and security issues before the council during its presidency in December, and reaffirmed U.N. support for Liberia to share its experience with its neighbors, ECOWAS and the Mano River Union.
Par Skold, a counselor and civilian adviser at Sweden’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, praised young people for taking responsibility for carrying out the U.N. youth, peace and security agenda and urged government institutions to give them space. He highlighted Sweden’s contribution to Liberia’s first national plan and reaffirmed Sweden’s commitment to the agenda.
Leymah Gbowee, the 2011 Nobel Peace laureate and founder of the Gbowee Peace Foundation, urged young people to embrace the PATHWAYs mandate by learning what it contains and recommended town hall meetings across the country. She urged the government to fund 50% of the framework’s implementation to encourage partners to invest.
Ibrahim Sannoh, identified by the organizers as Sierra Leone’s minister of youth affairs, called Liberia’s vision a beacon of hope. He said the region is collectively committed to the youth, peace and security agenda, turning fragility into a foundation and the scars of war into a testament of change.
The event, “Rooting and Rising: Liberia’s Vision for Youth, Peace and Security,” brought together international partners, youth leaders, government officials and civil society groups to encourage investment in youth-led initiatives.
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