"Liberia is Moving Foward" - President Sirleaf

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has expressed hopes that the UN peace keeping force will remain in her country until local security forces can be properly trained and professionalized.

President Sirleaf (left) and US Senator Hillary Clinton

Her comments were contained in a documentary, by Swedish journalist Malou von Sivers, aired on Swedish channel TV4 Thursday night.

But the president added that security will be actually achieved if the government can respond properly to the needs of the people.

Providing social services and jobs are two vital areas, she added.

Mrs. Sirleaf, the first female to ever be elected to the highest office in an African country, hinted positively that Liberia is moving forward “out of the shadow of the past.”

She said the country has formed a truth and reconciliation commission to aid the process of healing after more than a decade of civil conflict.

“This process of truth does not lead to punishment. It is about reconciliation and forgiveness,” she noted.

Liberia was put into a situation where many of its young people were subjected to untold cruelty; where many were forced to commit atrocities, the president said and added that it is now time to get the country moving again.

We have the opportunity to get the country back on course, correct the mistakes of the past and give the young people a better future, she added.

The film: Rita and Rufus- Liberian child soldiers, chronicled the experiences of the two former soldiers who were torn apart from the families at tender ages to fight for one of the country’s warring factions.

It also highlighted programs that the Red Cross is running to help them, and more than a hundred others, regain sanity.