Joint Press Briefing by UN Security Council delegation and Government of Liberia

20 May 2012

Joint Press Briefing by UN Security Council delegation and Government of Liberia

We will be addressed by Her Excellency Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic and two Co-Chairs leading the United Nations Security Council delegation, Ambassadors Susan Rice of the United States of America, and Mohammed of the Kingdom of Morocco.

 

Click to listen to the audio

 

 Near Verbatim

 

Mr. Johnny Washington (Government of Liberia)

 

Welcome to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to this joint press conference.

 

You may recall that the Council last visited Liberia three years ago in May 1979. You all are aware the Council visit is a follow-up on the findings of the Special UN Assessment Mission on the UN Mission in Liberia, UNMIL; which submitted its report to the Council Members on April 16. They are also here to review progress in the implementation of the mandate of the UN Mission UNMIL. They will provide highlights on the discussion held so far.

 

President Sirleaf will make special remarks to be followed by the two Co- Chairs of the Security Council delegation. At the end of the remarks, because of the tight schedule journalists will be allowed to ask a maximum of six questions focus only on the visit.

 

I am therefore to invite the President of the Republic of Liberia, H. E. Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the podium for remarks to be followed by the Co-Chairs of the UN Security Council delegation.

 

H. E. Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (President of the Republic of Liberia)

 

Once again I would like to say a big welcome to the two Co-Chairs and to the members of the Security Council delegation.

 

They do not visit countries too often and so we are just delighted that they have included Liberia on this visit. The purpose is to assess where we are in terms of the support we are receiving from the United Nations; particularly from the Peacekeeping force through UNMIL; to be able to see how our own development has progressed; to understand some of our challenges and outline them; challenges related to youth, infrastructure, reconciliation; and to share with them the progress we have made and our plans for our long term vision.

 

We will have an opportunity tomorrow to continue those discussions with Ministers and the Heads of other entities to get more details regarding the progress we talked about and the challenges we faced. We have talked about the UNMIL draw down and the plans we have to enhance our own capacity to take over the responsibility of ensuring the safety of our citizens and the security of our nation. And we are very pleased to have had that opportunity for this exchange and we hope they leave here recognizing Liberia’s progress potential as well as our challenges.

 

Ambassador Susan Rice (United States Ambassador to the United Nations) co-lead of the UN Security Delegation in Liberia.

 

Thank you Madame President and thank you Ministers for your very warm welcome of the Security Council. My colleagues and I are honored to be back in Liberia. As was mentioned, we were last here in 2009 and we are here to show again our support for the people and Government of Liberia.

 

Since we were last here, even over a longer period of time, it is quite evident that Liberia has made considerable progress since the end of the civil war. And we are looking forward of observing that progress first hand.

 

We just had a truly excellent meeting with the President and her Ministers and we took that opportunity to commend the citizens of Liberia and the President and her team for the peaceful election that just occurred in November and we applaud the people of Liberia for the conduct of the free and fair election and we applaud the President and her team for the work they are doing; particularly inaugurating such ambitious national development and economic agenda along with many other aspects of the agenda, political, social and otherwise. We discussed at great length in our meeting.

 

We certainly look forward to the additional steps the Government intends to take towards the development of the skills and job prospects of young people who have been affected by war and are seeking skills and employment for viable livelihood. We also have encouraged the people and Government of Liberia to address the security challenges that remain; to continue to build the capacity of the justice and security sectors.

 

The Security Council very much supports efforts towards reconciliation and inclusive dialogue, to consolidate peace and to support the development of civil society; particularly, Women’s Groups. We further want to extend our appreciation to the United Nations Mission in Liberia and its efforts to promote peace and security; as well the United Nations Country Team and the Peace Building Office.

 

During our visit, we look forward to focusing on a number of issues. We are very much looking forward to visit Kortu Town and to seeking a Quick Impact project supporting alternative livelihood for women. We will visit the National Police Training Academy for a discussion of the state of the rule of law and we will follow that with a visit to an UNMIL camp where there are Formed Police Units. We will also have a valuable opportunity to meet with members of the civil society and we hoped that time permits a visit toward the end to the Firestone Plantation.

 

On behalf of my colleagues, I want to thank again President Johnson Sirleaf and the people of Liberia for their hospitality and the opportunity of this visit. Surely when we returned to New York, our experiences here and the insights we gathered will be helpful and our judgment as to how we can better support the people of Liberia as they build their new future.

 

Thank you.

Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki (Moroccan Ambassador to the United Nations) co-lead of the UN Security Council delegation in Liberia. It is a privilege to listen to the President and to listen to the presentation of different Ministers.

 

The Security Council, as indicated, is here with a message of appreciation of what has been achieved by Liberia and of the leadership of H. E. but also with a message of support and optimism about the future of this African country. As one of the three African members of the Security Council, we are extremely proud of what Liberia is achieving and we are optimistic about the future of this country, not only to stabilize but also to have a prosperous future.

 

We listen to her H. E. who indicated that besides the progress that has been achieved, there are still challenges. But we are sure that with the determination of the people of Liberia, with the cohesiveness of the society; also with this very tangible and very rich potential Liberia has; we are optimistic about the future and convinced that Liberia will become a stable, prosperous, democratic and harmonious society because this is a very diversified society in terms of confessions, in terms of ethnicity but we see indication of cohesiveness and unity of this country.

 

We wish you all the best. At the same time we saw the ingredients of a successful story of a good partnership of Liberia and the United Nations. And you know that the United Nations is really looking for success stories that will be extended to other parts as the United Nations needs to solve problems in turbulent countries.

 

So all the best for this wonderful country and we are looking forward to the rest of the visit.

Questions and Answer

 

Q: Bianca Rothier (Globo News)
I would like to know until when you think the United Nations is going to help the country to stabilize.

 

A: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (President of Liberia)
We have been working with UNMIL on a draw down plan that has a period of two to three years and we hope that by that time we will have the capability to safeguard our nation on our own.

 

Q: Jacob Parlay (ELBC)
When Ambassador Rice spoke, she acknowledged some of the challenges but did not go into detail. Could you please tell us some of the challenges based on the briefing you got from the Liberian Government? What advice do you have if Liberia must work on those challenges to make progress?

 

A: Ambassador Susan Rice (U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations)
I think Liberians know the challenges better than I do or we do as a Council but obviously we talked about challenges of economic development and growth, providing adequate educational opportunities for young people, strengthening Government institutions and building the security sector among other challenges and we were very encouraged by the degree of detailed focus that the President and her Ministers are devoting to these challenges , they are under a considerable debt … their plans and priority including the budgetary allocation that they intend to direct to address a number of these challenges … so broadly speaking we fell their plans are solid and the intention is there and what is most needed is the cohesion and the commitment of all Liberians to share solutions to these challenges.

 

Q: Alphonso Toweh (Reuters)
You mentioned progress made so far since your visit in 2009. Could you be specific in which areas progress has been made? Are you talking about security? I just want to take you back to the State Department Report...part of it states that Liberia is still a fragile country and you are saying there have been progress made?

Second, it is not related to Liberia. What is the UN position on Guinea Bissau even though you have imposed sanctions on five of the coup makers? Do you think a second round election should be carried out or do you support ECOWAS stance?

 

A: Ambassador Susan Rice (U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations)
With respect to progress it comes in many different areas. The economy, the size of the budget, the Government revenue, the success of paying down and paying debts…this economy is substantially larger than what it was in 2006 and it is substantially larger than when we were here in 2009. There has been significant success in attracting foreign investments; so I think the economic trajectory is a positive and notable one and frankly and you can see it riding in the streets here in contrast to 2009.

 

Another area is Liberia democratic development having had successful elections in 2011 which was deemed by international observers and others as free and fair. Liberia ran that election for the first time by itself. So that obviously is an important milestone and indicator of progress and indeed the security situation is more stable despite some very real challenges in the neighborhood particularly over the last several years with regards to Cote D’Ivoire . I could stand here and go on and on but I think those are three good examples of the progress. Let my colleague answer the one on Guinea Bissau.

 

A: Mohammed Loulickki (Moroccan Ambassador to the UN)
About Guinea Bissau, I think you are aware that yesterday the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that set the principles of the reaction of the Security Council to this issue. The Security Council is calling for the return to the constitutional order and the respect for democracy and human rights but also at the same time they support all the efforts particularly those of ECOWAS.

 

Q: Johnathan Pay-laleh (Associated Press)
My question goes to the two co-chairs. We don’t have the opportunity of seeing you or talking to all the time. So I am just asking about the fate of some Liberians who were placed under the Security Council sanctions and travel ban during the days of Charles Taylor. Where the council stands on this since Mr. Taylor has been declared a guilty person

 

A: Ambassador Susan Rice (U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations)
This is an issue we have had the opportunity to discuss briefly and of course the Chairman of the Sanction Committee visited the Country last week. We continuously review our sanction regime and this is no exception and when it relates to individuals who have been designated we do take a look periodically to determine whether those designations remain warranted and we will do that and continue to do that in this instance.