Liberia: Sara Beysolow Nyanti Retires from UN after 22 Years

Sara Beysolow Nyanti’s journey with the United Nations began when  UNDP snatched her from the Ministry of Health where she headed the National AIDS Control Program in Monrovia at the level of program director in 2003.

She wrote the first Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM) proposal for Liberia. Two years later, Nyanti went international, serving as the GFATM Programme Manager in Nepal. Over the last 22 years, Beysolow Nyanti moved up the ranks, serving in high-profile positions in conflict-and post-conflict countries: UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal (2021);  United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Yemen (2019-2020); and the Gambia (2015-2017). 

Prior to her senior-level representational roles, Nyanti served in technical capacities in UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) related to setting up systems for large-scale grant management, Ebola response, social protection/cash transfers, HIV/AIDS, health, and education.

About 18 months ago, Nyanti ascended to one of the UN’s highest-ranking positions when Secretary-General António Guterres appointed her Deputy Special Representative to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), UN Resident Coordinator in South Sudan and Humanitarian Coordinator in the East African nation. Her appointment was at the level of UN Assistant Secretary General.

On Saturday, a diverse group of people gathered at the Cape Hotel in Mamba Point to celebrate Nyanti’s early retirement from the UN under the theme:  Sara 3.0, Opening a New Chapter. 

In between dinner, guests watched three videos featuring Nyanti’s UN assignments around the world. An amazing array of speakers sent videos ranging from ambassadors of western governments, advisors to the UN Secretary General and a Nigerian official  who led the Ebola response. The tribute from Leymah Gbowee which closed out the tributes drew laughter and saw a female leader from Liberia honor another Liberian female leader in a beautiful way.

“Thank you all for being a part of my journey in so many ways,’ Beysolow Nyanti said. “I have seen so much. I have been to so many places. You see the glory, but you do not know the story. I have been working as a Liberian doing the best I can for the people of the world. I  have been helping women and girls around the world. I realized that  I  needed to come home to  help women and girls in Liberia. I have spent time talking and building education and health systems around the world, it is  time to talk about my own.’’

Nyanti recounted the risky UN assignments in the Gambia, Yemen, and others, as well as encounters with world leaders including Pope Francis.

In Yemen, she established the largest humanitarian cash transfer payment system from scratch, and that system has been replicated in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and South Sudan. Beysolow Nyanti managed hundreds of millions of dollars in cash payments, negotiating with the Iran-backed Houthis. She faced threats during  assignments; and she shared the risks taken to ensure risk-informed delivery of results.

 “With very high risks but with very needy people, I had to distribute this cash; I had to go find the people who needed it,’ she said. “ People said it has never been done before, but I did it. I cried when I had to take on this assignment, but I did not realize that God was setting me up to lift me up’’.

“It was not without scars,” she said. “You see my glory, but nobody knows my story. I busted my butt, and I achieved results, building systems, leading teams.’’

When people were dying in the floods and new rains were expected in 2022 in South Sudan, Beysolow Nyanti convened a meeting with government, donors, and key actors to discuss how to save lives. In the absence of development funding to address the challenges, she took the unpopular decision to take humanitarian funds to build roads, dikes, and berms as well as extract water from flooded areas and direct the water to areas for agriculture irrigation. That decision led to not only saving lives in Bentui, but it became a best practice that has now led to a new flagship initiative piloted in four countries. 

She said she began thinking about taking early retirement when she faced cancer. She underwent three surgeries in Nairobi; overcame cancer and was declared cancer- free by the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan.

“When you have faced the Houthis, taken risks to engage at deeper levels, been in caves and you come out alive, what will you fear? Sara 3.0 is a place where I will raise my voice,’ she said. “ I will speak on the issues of the day. I will champion women and girls. Now, I want to serve my people more, so you will have to contend with me. Our country is in a place where we do not know what is next. All those speaking hate and tribalism, I will speak against you. We need a new Liberia that includes all  Liberians. All Liberians or no Liberia.’’

In February Nyanti teamed up the government of South Sudan and the UN to organize a conference on women’s transformational leadership that brought more than 400 women leaders from Africa and other parts of the world to share ideas and experiences in leadership and the struggle for gender equality, peace, and security.

 Liberia’s former president and Africa’s first female President Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf delivered the keynote address. Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee and women who were part of Liberia’s peace movement also participated in the conference, dubbed GuwaTaMara, ‘strength of a woman.’’

During his three-day visit to South Sudan, Pope Francis recognized Nyanti for her work in addressing the humanitarian crisis in the East African nation. “I would like to thank Deputy Special Representative Sara Beysolow Nyanti for telling us that today represents an opportunity for people to realize what has been going on in this country for years,’’ the leader of the Roman Catholic Church said.

“Magic Johnson, said, ‘you leave the stage when you are on a high,’ Beysolow Nyanti said. At a time when I have had great results in South Sudan and I have reached the age of early retirement in the UN which is 55 years,  and there is a need for my voice at home, the time is right to exit the UN stage and occupy my space at home.’’

Nyanti’s husband, Stephen, told the gathering about his wife’s love for Liberia and  people around the world. 

He recalled when she and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf brokered the peace deal during the 2017 election in the Gambia after  former President Yahya Jammeh refused to accept the election results that declared Adama Barrow president. 

 “ Every time she is elevated, we say, ‘ it must be God,’  Stephen Nyanti said. “To work in Yemen, as a woman, a Black African woman from Liberia, it must be God. She is strong and brave. She went to Yemen without a term of reference. God has inspired every chapter. We are riding into Chapter 3.0 together. We will make it happen as God has made it possible.’’

Also speaking was Dolores Edwards-Togba,  who has known Nyanti since their days at UNDP in Monrovia. They both began their international careers with the UN in 2005. Edwards-Togba  works with the UN Mission in South Sudan. She recalled how skeptical Beysolow Nyanti was when she applied for the job at UNDP Monrovia.

“You are more qualified than some of these people here,’ Edwards-Togba told Beysolow Nyanti. “We fought battles at UNDP, fighting against injustices. Sara is for everyone. Her position has not gotten to her head. She is the same Sara from Day 1 until today. I wish you all the best. Whatever you put your mind to, you will make it.’’