United Nations Radio

The President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, told the UN General Assembly that in her country the United Nations may receive its best ever performance record.

She noted that coming out of a destructive war that killed or displaced nearly half of its population, Liberia has made phenomenal progress towards political stability and economic revival, supported by the international community led by the UN. President Johnson Sirleaf made it clear that Liberia still has a long way to go to consolidate peace and overcome poverty and it relies on the UN to keep up its support.

"The presence of the UN mission in Liberia has given hope to the people not to surrender to the threat to peace and development that are represented by the large percentage of unemployed youth who can not be absorbed by an economy still too weak in spite of the recorded growth."

As the first elected female head of state in Africa, where she says this is still unthinkable in some quarters, President Johnson Sirleaf called for special efforts to be made to support and encourage women to seek elected public office.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova

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