MONROVIA – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has departed Liberia for the United States, beginning a high-level diplomatic mission that will take him from Washington, DC, to New York for the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where Liberia is expected to place its national priorities before the international community.
President Boakai left the country on Sunday, September 13, 2026, with a broad government delegation for a series of engagements that will include meetings with key members of the United States Congress, participation in high-level United Nations events and an address to the General Assembly.
The first phase of the trip will take the Liberian delegation to Washington, DC, where President Boakai is scheduled to meet with selected Congressional figures.
The meetings are intended to strengthen US-Liberia relations and provide an opportunity for the Liberian Government to engage directly with influential American policymakers on issues of mutual interest.
For the Boakai administration, the Washington engagements come at an important point in Liberia’s effort to deepen international partnerships and attract continued political and development support.
The President and his delegation will subsequently travel to New York for the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
At the United Nations, President Boakai is expected to deliver Liberia’s national address before the General Assembly while participating in key side events and high-level engagements.
The UNGA appearance gives the Liberian President a global platform to present his administration’s priorities and discuss issues affecting Liberia and the wider African continent.
It also provides an opportunity for Liberia to engage development partners and other governments beyond formal speeches, particularly through bilateral and side meetings held on the margins of the General Assembly.
The President’s itinerary therefore combines bilateral diplomacy in Washington with multilateral diplomacy at the United Nations.
The trip also places a sizeable cross-section of the Liberian Government’s leadership in the diplomatic mission.
The delegation includes Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti, Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, Information Minister Jerelinmek Matthew Piah, Minister of State Without Portfolio Hadja Mamaka Bility and Director of the Cabinet Nathaniel Kwabo.
Health Minister Dr. Louise Mapleh Kpoto, Education Minister Dr. Jarso Maley Jallah and Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister Gbeme Kollie Horace are also part of the delegation.
National Security Advisor Samuel Kofi Woods and Youth and Sports Minister Cornelia Wonkerleh Kruah complete the listed delegation.
The composition reflects an effort to place several major areas of Liberia’s governance agenda within the President’s international engagements.
Finance, health, education, gender, national security, youth and information are all represented alongside the country’s diplomatic leadership.
After completing his United Nations engagements, President Boakai and selected members of his delegation are scheduled to return to the Washington area for the Liberia Annual Diaspora Conference in Alexandria, Virginia.
The President will deliver the keynote address at the conference, which brings together Liberians from different parts of the diaspora.
His participation will give the administration another opportunity to engage Liberians living outside the country and discuss their role in Liberia’s national development.
The President is also scheduled to make a special visit to the Liberian Maritime Registry in Dulles, Virginia.
The combination of Congressional meetings, United Nations diplomacy, diaspora engagement and the Maritime Registry visit makes the trip broader than a routine attendance at the annual UN gathering.
It places Liberia’s foreign relations, development interests and diaspora engagement on the same diplomatic itinerary.
While the President is away, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Honorable Samuel A. Stevquoah will act as Chair of the Cabinet, in consultation with Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, while remaining in close contact with President Boakai.
The arrangement is intended to ensure continuity of government operations during the President’s absence.
President Boakai’s United States trip will therefore put Liberia before American policymakers, United Nations member states, international development partners and Liberians living abroad over the course of the engagements.
The administration will now have an opportunity to turn those diplomatic contacts into concrete partnerships, stronger bilateral relations and support for Liberia’s national development priorities.
