MONROVIA — As Liberia positions itself for a pivotal role on the global stage, The Liberian Investigator’s Lennart Dodoo, had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Ibrahim Al-Bakri Nyei, Deputy Minister for International Cooperation & Economic Integration. Currently in New York for the General Assembly, Dr. Nyei shares insights into Liberia’s campaign for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. With aspirations to enhance its international standing and influence global decision-making, Liberia’s bid is not just about a seat at the table but redefining the country’s role in international affairs.
In this exclusive interview, Dr. Nyei discusses the strategic moves Liberia is making to secure this seat, the country’s long-term goals at the UN, and the potential benefits this position could hold for the nation and the African continent. Join us as we delve into the motivations, strategies, and aspirations behind Liberia’s bid, and what it means for the future of this resurging nation on the world stage.
TLI: Dr. Nyei, welcome. We are delighted to sit with you for this exclusive interview.
Dr. Nyei: You’re welcome, Lennart. The pleasure is mine.
TLI: What are Liberia’s primary goals in seeking a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and how do you plan to achieve them?
Dr. Nyei: First, we all know that Liberia is a founding member of the United Nations. And you know the Security Council is the decision-making body of the United Nations, I mean, like the executive committee after the General Assembly. Getting on the Security Council, it brings a lot of credibility, respect, and visibility to the country. And not just that, but you participate in the process of global decision-making at that level. So because of that, by being on that body, it brings a lot of respect to your country, a lot of credibility, it attracts international organizations, businesses, and others to your country. It’s a sign of stability, it’s a sign of improvement. By sitting on the Council, it’s a sign of democratic consolidation, it’s a sign of security, and it’s a sign of public respect for the country.
TLI: And how do we intend to achieve winning this seat?
Dr. Nyei: So we intend to win this seat by lobbying other countries, countries that are participating, that are members of the United Nations. There are two seats that will be open for Africa next year, and Liberia is contesting to get one of the seats elected to Africa next year. We have already engaged with all of the major countries in Africa to ask them for support, and the regional organizations. Normally, most often the African Union will endorse a country, and the regional organizations will endorse a country.
But also that doesn’t mean because you have got the endorsement of the African Union, no other African country will challenge you. We’ve had cases like that before, but it also means that once you get the endorsement of the African Union, you stand a stronger chance of getting the support of almost all of the African countries. So we’ve secured that, we’ve got the support of the African Union, we’ve got the support of ECOWAS, our regional body, and because of this, no other West African country will be competing for this seat that Liberia is competing for. Guinea-Bissau withdrew to support ECOWAS’ decision to support Liberia.
And we are also lobbying with other countries in Asia, in all of our diplomacy, our engagements, bilateral meetings, every country we have a meeting with. We let them know that we are contesting for this seat, and we ask for their support. And we’ve sent letters to countries. And we’ve received really a very significant positive feedback from many countries. And the feedback has been positive and immense. At the moment, we are very, very much optimistic that we are going to win this seat on the Security Council.
TLI: Liberia has had a history of civil unrest; how does this history position Liberia to contribute uniquely to global peace and security discussions at the UN?
Dr. Nyei: So what contributes to this is not our history of civil unrest, but it’s our history of resolving the civil unrest, the history of building peace, the history of rebuilding the state, reorganizing our society that 20 years we have not relapsed into conflict. Very few countries achieve that. Our neighbors, our brothers and sisters from neighboring Sierra Leone, similarly achieved that 20 years. They maintained political stability, experienced governance reform, and went through peace-building and state-building processes.
And today, they are sitting on the Security Council for this term, 2024-2025. And so, we are bringing similar experiences: twenty years of political stability, democratic consolidation, governance reform, peace-building, significant experience in resolving domestic conflicts, and a very good experience in participating in international peacekeeping operations in other countries.
We are bringing all of these experiences to bear on the Security Council. We hope to share these lessons with the Security Council and other members of the United Nations and contribute to the process of international peace and security.
TLI: What are the key issues that Liberia intends to address or prioritize should it be elected to the UN Security Council?
Dr. Nyei: We’re going to prioritize more support for peace-building and peacekeeping operations, particularly in Africa. We’re going to prioritize strengthening the Security Council for conflict resolution because we have seen the impact of conflict on our society and other societies. And so, we’re going to prioritize advocating for more funding for peacekeeping operations, more funding for transitional justice and reconciliation processes. Not just funding, but more political support for these processes.
We’re also going to focus on strengthening the Peace-Building Commission so that it concentrates on conflict resolution and building credible peace architecture, namely governance institutions that are sufficiently credible.
TLI: How does Liberia plan to represent African interests on the Security Council, especially those of West African nations?
Dr. Nyei: We aim to reform international financial institutions to ensure that African countries are treated fairly by entities such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the entire global financial and international development finance architecture.
Additionally, we hope to elevate the issue of the climate crisis, which countries in coastal West Africa and other coastal communities across the world are facing. We want to prioritize the issue of climate change and climate adaptation, and to mobilize the global voice against massive carbon emissions by industrialized countries, which predominantly affect developing countries.
These initiatives are part of our agenda to also push the ongoing call for a reform of the Security Council to ensure that it has regional balance. Currently, Africa is not represented in the permanent category. We’re going to push the case for Africa to have a permanent seat and enjoy all rights as all permanent members. Furthermore, we will advocate for the reform of the UN peace-building architecture so that it is more effective and more vibrant, capable of proactively responding to conflict situations.
TLI: How has Liberia prepared for this bid in terms of building international support, and which countries do you view as key allies in this endeavor?
Dr. Nyei: Well, we can say that all of the African countries, we have lobbied with the key African countries, and we consider them key allies. And actually all of the countries we are meeting, we consider all of them key allies, because they all are going to participate in the election at the General Assembly. And so we prioritize every single vote, and we continue to maintain very good and friendly diplomatic relations with all of our neighbors and all of the countries in Africa, and countries in Europe, the U.S., Latin America. We are strategically engaging across the global landscape.
TLI: So locally speaking now, how would Liberia’s presence at the Security Council affect our own domestic policies, especially concerning human rights and governance?
Dr. Nyei: Yeah, so given that we have made significant strides over the last 20 or 30 years in building good governance institutions, and we have a viable human rights commission and commissions against corruption, we intend to strengthen them. And because we are on this global decision-making body, obviously, we intend to strengthen our local institutions so that they reflect our values and objectives that we are taking to the UN Security Council. I think our human rights record is quite appreciable at this stage. We have good human rights records. You know that there are no political prisoners, there are no extrajudicial killings. We are working to strengthen the judiciary, and we have complete separation of powers between the executive and the legislature. The independence of the judiciary is something that the government is committed to advocating for. The president has lost cases in the court, and he hasn’t condemned the judiciary but has accepted the outcomes of court cases.
And so we think all of these issues are achievements that will shape our values that we are taking to the UN Security Council. Our democracy is very strong. You know that since the war, we have had four successive presidential and general elections. After part of the four elections, you also know that in two of those cases, opposition parties won the election, defeating ruling parties, and the transition was very seamless. And so, being on the Security Council, we have to continue on this path. These are values that we are taking. We have to demonstrate this.
We think that our domestic policies on governance, human rights, and democracy will continue to improve, and will expand the space for more civic participation in our governance processes. This is also going to help us to strengthen our domestic policies on the economic front as well. Because given that we’ll be on the Security Council, it brings respect and visibility to our country. This is likely going to attract investment. This is likely going to attract partnerships in many other sectors. So we obviously have to prepare a conducive environment, liberalize our institutions so that we can respond to the demands of investors, the demands of tourists, and others who may want to come to our country to participate in our processes of development and business.
TLI: How might serving on the Security Council affect Liberia’s domestic policies, especially concerning human rights and governance. You mentoined earlier, but let’s look at the specifics.
Dr. Nyei: Well, being a member of the Security Council doesn’t come with any extra financial or immediate automatic financial benefit. What it comes with, it comes with clout, political clout. It comes with visibility. And you could use that as a currency to generate investment, to generate more partnership, to build credible relationship across the world. And all of that could have positive ramifications for the domestic economy. And obviously an improved economy will lead automatically to transformation in the social and economic lives of the people.
TLI: Mr. Nyei, what is our biggest opposition in ascending to this seat?
Dr. Nyei: Well, at the moment we haven’t identified any opposition. What I can discuss, however, are our challenges. I think our main challenges stem from being a country with limited capacity. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is actively working to build both the institutional and human resource capacity necessary for our involvement in the Security Council, which is a substantial undertaking. Our minister, Sara Beysolow Nyanti, is very determined to ensure that our presence on the Security Council will make a significant difference and that our participation will be of high quality. She is focused on building institutional capacity and ensuring there is adequate budgetary appropriation for this purpose.
As for opposition, we don’t know of any country at the moment that has openly stated they are not supporting Liberia, or that could imply we wouldn’t win this seat. But as it stands, we are actually in a pole position. We are almost there, poised to be seated on the Security Council for the 2026-2027 term. The election will be in June 2025, and we hope to secure a two-thirds majority to sit on the council.
Given the work the foreign minister has done in the last six months, through short-term diplomacy, visiting numerous capitals, and engaging with heads of state, she has said this is a project she is going to win for the country, and we are going to achieve this. She has worked very hard, excelling over the last six months with a focus not just on winning but also on ensuring that our representation is of the best quality.
TLI: Now, looking beyond, and this will be my closing question, looking beyond the tenure of the UN Security Council, how does Liberia plan to leverage the experience and exposure that it might gain if it’s elected to that seat to bolster its role on the international stage?
Dr. Nyei: So, we’re going to leverage this opportunity to rebrand Liberia. The Foreign Minister, acting on a mandate from President Boakai to ensure Liberia gains greater visibility in the international space, has proclaimed a policy of rebranding and repositioning. We are making the world aware that Liberia is back on the world stage. Liberia is no longer a pariah nation. We are prepared to contribute to global decision-making processes and global development. We are no longer going to sit back and be the recipient of development or decisions, but we’re going to be an active player, so we’re going to leverage this seat to make the world know that we are a vibrant nation.
We have significant experience in international diplomacy as founding members of the UN, and as a country that supported the independence of many African countries. We are going to project, we are going to ensure that Liberia’s power is projected across Africa, and we are going to continue on that pace. From the Security Council, we hope to secure a leadership position in other international organizations, whether it’s a seat for the country or whether we’ll promote individual Liberians to be in international positions at the highest level. That’s all part of the agenda of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and she’s working towards that already.
TLI: Thank you so much, Dr. Nyei. It is always a pleasure talking to you.
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