Speaking in Georgetown’s Gaston Hall Oct. 17, Africa’s first elected woman head of state looked beyond the effects of war in her country and called for solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges and conflicts.  

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf referred to her own election in November 2005 as the moment her government was given “the greatest opportunity that can come to any leader – the chance to rebuild a nation on the ruins of war.”  

Johnson Sirleaf delivered the fifth annual Goldman Sachs Distinguished Lecture, sponsored by the Mortara Center for International Studies. The annual lecture is a tribute to Michael P. Mortara (F'71) by Goldman Sachs and is held annually for the Georgetown community, featuring an internationally recognized scholar or government official.

Chester Crocker, professor of strategic studies and former assistant secretary of state for African affairs, introduced Johnson Sirleaf as a “leader of awesome personal courage” and someone who understands the “critical power that comes from moral conviction and consistent responsibility to her own people.”  

Taking the helm of the country a mere two years after the end of Liberia’s second civil war, Johnson Sirleaf spoke about working to restore her own country and efforts to end neighboring conflicts on the African continent.  

“Across Africa and around the world, we must show that freedom can deliver prosperity and peace,” she said. “Failure to do so will be more costly than we can contemplate and in Liberia that failure could be catastrophic.”  

She emphasized that Liberia’s own recent past makes the country acutely aware of the suffering of neighboring civilian populations such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Darfur region of Sudan. She argued that the international community must act to restore peace and security in regions of conflict.  

“Civilized nations must not be indifferent to any conflict – internal or external – regardless of the factors that fuel it,” she said.  

Painting a graphic picture of Liberia, where basic infrastructure was damaged or altogether destroyed by civil war, Johnson Sirleaf said the people of Liberia are beginning to regain hope as efforts to rebuild are underway.  

“Our children are beginning to smile again with faith in the future,” she said. “I tell you there is one thing that bores down on us very, very hard and that is a sense of urgency. We have got to deliver fast to be able to keep that hope alive and to have that hope build on a solid foundation.”  

Johnson Sirleaf outlined some of the goals her administration has achieved in the past nine months including renewing security and law enforcement agencies, returning electricity and water to parts of Monrovia (Liberia’s capital city), repairing roads and bridges, resettling displaced people, rehabilitating health clinics, and improving government accountability and transparency.  

She acknowledged that although some strides have been made, the international community must work in conjunction with Liberia and other countries in Africa to make issues such as foreign aid distribution more streamlined and responsive. She also emphasized that Liberia needs more help from the international community to achieve debt relief.  

“The poorest people of Liberia – some of the poorest people in the world – must not pay the price for the lack of accountability in which they played no part and had no responsibility,” Johnson Sirleaf said.  

Carol Lancaster, director of the Mortara Center and a participant in Tuesday’s program, emphasized that the United States has a special obligation to support the success of Liberia.  

“Liberia is a country that has gone through years of extreme suffering and conflict,” Lancaster said. “Its recovery represents one of the greatest challenges for the international development community and is a great opportunity. So often is the case in these situations after conflict and destruction you have very weak governments but this government is strong, experienced and committed.”  

Johnson Sirleaf also appealed for expatriate Liberians to return home and supplement the country’s capacity to rebuild.  

“The Liberian people are a resilient people. They have suffered through a lot but they are committed to moving ahead to a future of hope and promise,” she said. “The one opportunity Liberia has to ensure that we do get sustainable peace…to ensure that we can build from chaos and tragedy a future of promise in which all of our people share the same in opportunity, in equity and in their stake in their society.”