Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s recent call for world leaders to move beyond treaties and deliver tangible results in the lives of people is a plea from the heart of not only a leader, but a mother, who had seen bloody conflicts firsthand from her own country, having served as Liberia’s first elected post-war leader who endured the aftermath of conflicts. Her stern warning that silence over conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and Africa betrays the UN’s founding promise could not have been said any better, for the UN has watched Russia decimate Ukraine just as Israel decapitate Palestine or Gaza like a toothless bulldog.
At 80, this is not the kind of United Nations the world had imagined from the inception – a global body that observes and does nothing to halt carnage and destruction.
This is why we agreed with Madam Sirleaf that peace cannot be achieved through speeches alone, but through concrete actions in conflict zones that involve protecting civilians and building lasting security.
The former Liberian President lamented that multilateral structures, built to shield future generations from war, are underperforming, and global leadership lacks a unified effort to respond to a technology-driven world. A world in which a nation can direct hundreds, if not thousands, of drones mounted with missiles against another nation to kill people and seize territories, and the rest of us watch.
Addressing the UN General Assembly’s high-level plenary on peace and security early last week in New York, Madam Sirleaf noted that global structures and leaders have failed the world by remaining silent, as women and children suffer from acts of inhumanity in Gaza, Ukraine, and elsewhere.
“Are we to continue to accept the imbalance of global power, as reflected in the Security Council and the use of vetoes that limit current tools for peacebuilding and peacekeeping?” She asked, noting that commemoration without candor is unaffordable. She continued that the world asks whether the UN General Assembly will protect civilians and uphold international humanitarian law, saying, “These are not words of despair; they are a summons to repair.”
The former first elected female President in Africa cautioned that the credibility of the multilateral system is at stake, as conflicts stretch from Sudan and the Sahel to Gaza and Ukraine.
Citing her own experience from Liberia’s post-war transition as evidence of what international cooperation can achieve, she highlighted the role of UN peacekeepers, regional African bodies, and women-led initiatives in disarming fighters, reforming security institutions, and restoring public trust, stressing, “Where guns fall silent, skills training, jobs, justice, and dignity must follow swiftly.”
It is silent about dangerous weapons in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and the Sahel, and voices like hers that are filled with compassion for human lives, especially innocent women and children, are craving to give peace a chance.
Someone among the world’s leaders should heed this plea from a voice of wisdom and act now to save lives in conflict areas across the globe, restoring peace and understanding among mankind.
