Liberia on the road to recovery

Liberia is on the road to recovery from its experience as a failed state but a commitment to reconciliation is needed to ensure success, a U.N. diplomat said. Karin Landgren, U.N. special envoy to Liberia, briefed members of the U.N. Security Council on the country's progress. The country, she said, has transformed itself from a failed state to a democracy in just a few years. "The presidential and legislative elections of 2011 showed the capacity to manage a politically and logistically complex event," Landgren said. "The subsequent peaceful formation of a new government signaled the country's increased stability." The U.N. Mission in Liberia is ensuring the sustainability of a 2003 cease-fire that ended a civil war in the country that left around 150,000 people dead. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf secured a second term as president last year in a contest that went to a second round of voting. However, violence rocked Liberia between the voting rounds of voting. Landgren said Liberia is on the verge of becoming a regional success but lasting peace needed lasting support. A U.N. report on Liberia states that "much work remains to be done" to address historical injustices in the country.