REMARKS BY THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HER EXCELLENCY MRS. OLUBANKE KING-AKERELE, DURING A TURNING OVER CEREMONY HELD AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TUESDAY OCTOBER 9, 2007

Ambassador George Wallace;

Deputy Ministers;

Ambassadors-at-Large;

Assistant Ministers;

Staff and Members of the Foreign Ministry;

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great honor to receive the seal of the Republic of Liberia, of which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the custodian, from the hands of the outgoing Foreign Minister, Ambassador George Wallace, at this ceremony. This moment signifies my complete acceptance of the challenges of this position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and also serves as an opportunity to convey my deep commitment to the mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the future of a strong Liberia.

I am aware of the magnitude of the challenges that accompany this position. They are formidable, but not insurmountable under the overall leadership of our President H. E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. I look forward to working with the senior management team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the various Ambassadors-at-Large and all of you in order to overcome these challenges as we collectively work to promote Liberia’s interests abroad and secure her interests at home.

Under the skilled leadership of my predecessor, and with direction from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, we have a good starting point from which to achieve these goals. Since January 2006 Liberia’s foreign policy posture has been refocused and re-oriented to highlight Liberia’s traditional values and policies of promoting good neighborliness, sub-regional peace and security, and the principles and ideals of international, regional and sub-regional organizations.

This is consistent with the vision as espoused in the President’s inaugural address, regarding her foreign policy, and I quote:

“Our nation’s foreign policy has historically been rooted in our core values as a nation and people in the practices of good neighborliness, non-interference in the affairs of other nations and people, peaceful co-existence, regional cooperation and integration, and international bilateral multilateral partnership. These core values will continue to guide the conduct of our foreign policy under my Administration. Our foreign policy will take due cognizance of the sacrifices and contributions that have been made to restore peace, security and stability to our country. We will therefore work to be a responsible member of sub-regional and international organizations, including the Mano River Union, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union and the United Nations. We wil do all that we can to honor our obligations, past and current, and enforce all international treaties to which our country has subscribed.

To our sister Republics West, East and North of our borders, we make this pledge: under my Administration, no inch of Liberian soil will be used to conspire to perpetuate aggression against your countries. In making this commitment, we will work for a new regional security that is based upon economic partnership aimed at enhancing the prospects for regional cooperation and integration. In this regard, we proposed to tap into the successful Southeast Asian experiences regarding the promotion of regional integration with a heavy private sector component.”

This new posture has brought Liberia back into the Comity of Nations. Today we are moving beyond the legacy of Liberia’s recent past that was marked by violations of international law and the flouting of diplomatic norms, which overshadowed our strong positive diplomatic traditions of the past. We have secured international assistance for our reconstruction and renewal efforts. We have now succeeded in lifting United Nations Security Council diamond and timber sanctions on Liberia. And we are projecting a new, positive image of Liberia – a true image of Liberia. All this has been achieved thanks to the policy and leadership of the present Administration.

I intend to build on these accomplishments and use our international relationships to accelerate our development and reconstruction process. In keeping with the above-mentioned vision, our focus will be on economic and development diplomacy to secure the much-needed assistance in support of our reconstruction endeavors and attract investment to catalyze sustainable development. This approach is one that is already yielding positive gains as our nation tackles the major challenges to overcome the deplorable post-war economic conditions it faces. This policy will help move the country from conditions of war to conditions of sustainable peace based on socio-economic transformation.

The past twenty-five years were characterized by political instability and the decline in the standards of living of our people. Improving the conditions of the People of Liberia is Government’s top priority. This will require strengthening the fragile Liberian state and laying the foundation for sustainable development by articulating a clear vision and policy agenda. A strong, principled foreign policy is integral to achieving this objective.

During our tenure, Liberia will continue to pursue closer and stronger ties with our traditional partners while also exploring ways to open new avenues of engagement, mutual friendship and solidarity, as we have done over the past two years.

Accomplishing this will require the support and cooperation of each and every staff member of the Ministry, from the Office Boy to the highest senior staff member. I am coming to the Ministry with an open mind and am eager to work with everyone. I hope to receive the needed support and cooperation from everyone, as was accorded to my predecessor. I am already reading the Briefings prepared by the bureau and want to thank all of you. I find them most informative and want to commend everyone for their contribution.

As regards the Ministry itself, We shall review the ongoing efforts to respond to the challenges facing the Ministry and find ways to best address them. Foremost concerns the conditions of our missions overseas – the difficult conditions under which the Liberian Foreign Service Officers have had to carry out their representations; the hardships that they have had to endure. These challenges notwithstanding, our Foreign Service Officers have done their utmost to maintain the dignity of our nation. We want to thank them for such gallantry and resilience.

In this regard, oftop priority is a recast budget for the Ministry, including its Foreign Service, which is already under consideration. Indeed we have already met earlier today on this internally and will meet tomorrow with Ministry of Finance and the Budget Bureau. I have, in addition, already interacted and engaged personally with the following Ambassadors on these matters: the United Nations; China; United States and France. We have noticed that in the 2007/2008 FY, only 20 percent of the resources have been allocated for operational activities. Clearly the recasting will have to address the implications of this.

Secondly, are issues pertinent to our Liberian passports. These include: who are entitled to Liberian passports – ordinary, official and diplomatic; revision of regulations to govern the administration and issuance of Liberian passports; the cancellation and re-issuance of new Liberian passports with biometric features that meet international standards; development of guidelines and criteria for appointments of Honorary Counsels, whose appointments were cancelled by the Government of Liberia recently, in order to avoid the tendency by some to misuse these positions, tarnishing the good name of our country. We will be reviewing these shortly.

Thirdly, we have heard the plea of the Inspector General of Foreign Missions. This is an item I promise that we will respond to in this fiscal year – even if it means 1-2 inspections as part of our recast budget. We shall re-launch it. You will have to help me though! In the case of the Bureau of Publications, Bureau of American Affairs and other Bureau; International and Economic Cooperation with the leaking ceiling, adversely impacting the documents. We also need to respond to your imperatives.

At the Ministry level, we look forward to better coordination with other Ministries, enhanced coordination between the regional and functional bureaus of the Ministry and assistance to the various diplomatic missions accredited to Liberia; continuing need for capacitation of the Ministry’s staff to enhance their performance. In this regard the review of the Foreign Service Institute already underway will be critical, while initiatives have already been made with UNITAR in Geneva.

Fourthly, the archives are clearly also of highest priority. The need for computerization, shelves and filing systems will be addressed. We need to modernize the entire Archival system in Liberia. We will also study the prospects for reactivation of the diplomatic pouch – if not by the second half of the fiscal year, certainly in the next year.

To the diplomatic community, I look forward to an opportunity to meet with you, to exchange ideas and to get to know one another in the very near future. I wish at the same time to express appreciation for the very positive and cordial ongoing relationships enjoyed with you all and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Government of Liberia. We shall of course emphasize reciprocity in our relations as we seek to uphold the dignity of our People. At the same time we look forward to reinforcing traditional ties and establishing new ones. We look forward to putting the past behind us and moving forward. We look forward to a revitalized Mano River Union under Liberia’s Chairmanship of the Council. We plan to tap the Asian model here in terms of the Growth Areas, Growth Triangles and other strategic approaches. We want to commend the international community; the UN; bilateral and multi-lateral organizations for their role in the current peace and stability being enjoyed. We plan to tap the opportunities afforded under Chinese Special Economic Zones; the AGOA of the U.S. and the EU Everything But Arms Programme.

As I embark on this new assignment, let me seize this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for affording me the opportunity to serve as Liberia’s Foreign Minister and first woman Foreign Minister under the new dispensation. I shall do my utmost to live up to the confidence she has placed in me. We shall continue to rely on her immeasurably for the necessary guidance and direction as we formulate and execute Liberia’s foreign policy and enhance our image abroad, which since Her our assumption of the Presidency has increased immeasurably.

We bring to this position some 24 years of international development experience and multilateral experience from all over the world, with service in four UN system agencies – UNDP, UNIFEM, UNESCO and UNIDO. We will tap all of these in our work. We bring experience from Southeast Asia and acquaintance with Latin American Southern Cone Commercial Market and COMESA – Common Market for East and Southern Africa. We also bring experience with peace building in conflict-prone countries of the Great Lakes region in Central Africa.

I also want to take this opportunity to commend my predecessor Ambassador George Wallace for the foundation he has laid at the Foreign Ministry. He has worked in support of the President’s effort to change Liberia’s negative image abroad, secure and maintain the goodwill of the international community and further Liberia’s domestic and foreign policy agenda. We hope to continue to draw on your extensive experience and will certainly seek your advice in your new capacity as Advisor on International Affairs to the Chief Executive.

As we move forward, I ask that we all rededicate ourselves to the service of Liberia and contribute our part to the important work that lies ahead. We are faced with challenging times. I know we are up to the challenge. Hard work is required to achieve our goals. I know we will work hard. Collective action is needed to make our country stronger abroad while furthering our domestic agenda. I am confident that we all will work together and do our part in the Foreign Policy domain to build a better Liberia thereby contributing to the President’s vision invoked in her inaugural address:

“Our national strategy is to achieve…visible progress that reaches significant numbers of our people…consolidate support and establish the foundation for sustained development.”

I thank you!