Your Excellency, the President of the Security Council of the United Nations;
Your Excellency Secretary General of the United Nations;
Distinguished Excellencies, Members of the Security Council;
Ambassadors Accredited to the United Nations;
Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is this morning a distinct honor and privilege to address distinguished members of the Security Council of the United Nations, in the name of the 3.5 million people of Liberia. I thank you for this special opportunity.

As many of you will know, the people of Liberia last October/November took the heroic step of voting, not once but twice, to elect a new Government to direct their affairs for the next six years. In that process they entrusted me with the stewardship of a nation that had until only two years earlier still been the object of unprecedented internal civil strife, resulting in massive physical destruction and immeasurable moral and spiritual degradation.

Today, thanks to the will and resilience of our, and buoyed by the unstinting support and commitment from you in the international community, a new Liberia has been ushered in since last January 16, 2006. Liberia is back, the long walk to our renewed freedom and aspirations as a nation has now begun in earnest. And after all, in the popular saying of a distinguished member of this very Security Council, “the longest journey starts with the first step”.

Liberians have now taken that first step towards a more just and democratic society, once again respecting of the rule of law and committed to a new and secure economic dispensation for all our citizens.