20 December 2017, Bensonville - Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMIL, Farid Zarif, accompanied by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; US Ambassador Christine Elder; EU Head of Corporation Section and Governance, Mr. Hans Lambrecht; and Head of Development Cooperation of the Swedish Embassy, Ms. Elizabeth Hårleman, attended the formal opening of the Monsterrado County Service Center in Bentol City, which was renovated with support from UNMIL, UNDP, USAID, the Swedish Embassy and the European Union (EU).

Citizens of the Bentol City of  Monsterrado County, with the newly inaugurated County Service Center, will no longer have to travel to Monrovia for their birth certificates, IDs, driver licenses and related documents.  All the documents can be obtained at the County Service Center from now on. 

Addressing the participants, SRSG Farid Zarif voiced his pleasure for UNMIL’s support of this project. Recalling his last week’s visit at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), he emphasized  that all representatives of the UNSC at a recent consultation meeting in New York lauded Liberia’s electoral process for the quality of elections that Liberians have produced during the first round. SRSG Zarif said the UNSC praised President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s administration and all the institutions of the state, as well as the political parties and the general public in Liberia, for having worked together in order to bring about an extraordinarily peaceful election during the first round.

SRSG Zarif also noted the UNSC’s acknowledgment of an election that was completely devoid of violence, evidenced by aggrieved parties seeking legal means to settle electoral disputes, demonstrating maturity.

The SRSG also said the UNSC was impressed with public discourse leading to the first round of elections as compared to the recent history of Liberia’s political experiments. He extended the compliments of the international community to the Government and people of Liberia so far for what has been done in the context of the Liberian elections process. “It can only give us hope that Liberians together, including their political leaders and institutions of state, will continue to build upon this accomplishment to deliver yet another impressive example of how Liberia has matured and how it has graduated to a different stage of play in exercising their democratic rights and opportunities,” the SRSG said.

In a related development, SRSG Zarif has called on the National Legislature to do its job with the sense of patriotism and responsibility towards the people and future generation of Liberia by passing those bills still languishing in the corridors of the Legislature, and unleash the potential of the nation to become self-sufficient in governing the state.