By By: Staff Writer
Monrovia, Liberia – Liberia will make history next month as the first African country to launch a gender-responsive foreign policy, officially dubbed feminist foreign policy, Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti has announced.
Minister Nyanti made the disclosure Monday, October 26, 2026, during the commemoration of United Nations Day at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia, which brought together diplomats, foreign partners and government officials.
According to the Foreign Minister, the launch is scheduled for *November 17, 2026*, as part of a packed diplomatic calendar leading to Liberia’s presidency of the UN Security Council in December.
”November 17th will be the launch of Africa’s first gender-responsive foreign policy, dubbed feminist foreign policy, Africa’s first,” Nyanti announced.
The policy launch is one of several major events lined up by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and State to showcase Liberia’s diplomatic journey and current global role.
Nyanti said the calendar includes a diplomatic briefing and cocktail for the Diplomatic and Consular Corps on October 30th, a first-sharing committee meeting for the establishment of the Peace and Reconciliation Museum on November 4-5 with guests from South Africa and Rwanda, and the unveiling of a War Memorial on November 5th.
Other events include a maritime safety and security forum on November 19th, a Model UN mock Security Council debate with young people on the morning of November 20th, a presidential dinner and launch of the compendium of Liberia’s peace agreements compiled by Foreign Service Institute students on the night of November 20th, and an inter-religious peace prayer on November 22nd.
The entire program builds toward December 1st, when Liberia will assume the presidency of the UN Security Council, with President Joseph Nyuma Boakai expected to chair a high-level debate on maritime security on December 3rd.
Nyanti linked the feminist foreign policy to Liberia’s broader history of women’s leadership in peace and governance. She recalled the 2003 Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, when Christian and Muslim women sat at the fish market praying and protesting for peace through rain and sun, a movement that helped pave the way for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the deployment of UNMIL.
She also noted that Liberia produced Africa’s first elected female president and is home to two of only five African women Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
While full details of the new foreign policy were not disclosed, gender-responsive and feminist foreign policies globally typically prioritize gender equality, women’s participation in peace and security, protection of women and girls in conflict, and integration of gender perspectives in trade, climate, aid and diplomacy.
Liberia’s move comes at a time when the country is reasserting its voice on the world stage as one of only four African countries that signed the UN Charter in 1945, and after its historic election to the UN Security Council in June 2025 with 181 votes out of 187 for the 2026-2027 term.
Nyanti said the new policy reflects who Liberians are as a people.
”We go there with all of who we are as a people, our history of championing causes… a country where women led mass action, a country where we had the first female president elected in Africa,” she said.
The Foreign Ministry said more details about the feminist foreign policy launch will be shared in the coming days.
