The presence of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia will remain strong until after a successful conduct of the country's second post-war democratic elections.

The visiting UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Alian Le Roy says nearly 8,000 forces will stay in the country until after the 2011 elections and that the Mission continue to "include the conduct of free and fair elections on the list of core benchmarks" for an eventual drawdown.

Addressing a news conference in Monrovia, Mr. Le Roy disclosed that that the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has forwarded to the UN Security Council the report of the Technical Assessment Team that recently visited Liberia and has included recommendations for the second phase of the UNMIL drawdown process.

Mr. Ban is recommending to the UN Security Council a further reduction of 2,000 troops from UNMIL's current strength of 10,764 troops while leaving at its current level the UN Police of 1,400 officers including logistical support, Le Roy said.

He noted that though people have termed Liberia peace and the security "fragile", he has explicit confidence in the technical assessment team that visited Liberia in May and June this year.

Mr. Le Roy noted that the experts that came to Liberia early this year were composed of military, police and security in their areas of specialization, and after meeting with a wide spectrum of Liberian and international military, police and security personnel including government officials, they reached a consensus that UNMIL having a total of nearly 8,000 troops was capable of handling any situation if the need arises until after elections when their mandate will be reviewed.

He said the Secretary-General recommended in his report that "there will be no further drawdown until the 2011 presidential and legislatives elections leaving the troops strength at nearly 8,000 strong and police at 1,400 in Liberia."

After the 2011 presidential and legislative elections the Security Council will determine the next course of action regarding UNMIL stay in the country, Mr. Le Roy noted, emphasizing that the UN Secretary-General has only made a recommendation to the Security Council, but a decision will be made at the time the Council debates the renewal of the UNMIL mandate in September 2009.

The UN Secretary-General in his report to the Security Council called on Liberia's partners to continue support the country, which, six years after the end of conflict, remains fragile but has the potential to be a beacon of stability in the region.

"Once the epicentre of conflict, Liberia now has the potential to become a pillar of peace and stability in a troubled region," Mr. Ban said

Mr. Le Roy, at the close of a three-day visit to Liberia to assess the level of work done by the Mission, expressed satisfaction over the level of progress made by the UN Mission in Liberia and the Government of Liberia in securing peace and security.

In a meeting with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Under-Secretary-General said the Liberian leader recognized the valuable contribution of the Mission in sustaining peace and security.

He however stressed that despite the progress made, the Liberian Government was aware of the remaining challenges in improving the security sector.

Mr. Le Roy cited the completion of training and operationalizing the new Armed Forces of Liberia; strengthening the Liberia National Police; and improving the justice sector, especially the rule of law institutions such as the Judiciary and Corrections. "UNMIL will continue to support these sectors at the highest level", Under-Secretary-General Le Roy emphasized.

On the progress made by UNMIL, Mr. Le Roy assured that, "It is important to continue sustaining the progress made, so that after the 2011 Presidential and Legislative elections, the national security forces and the justice system will be fully effective to ensure basic security and justice in this country". He thanked UNMIL for the positive work done in Liberia which he added was clearly manifested by the feedback received from various interlocutors he met during his visit.

The Under-Secretary-General toured Liberia's central region, Bong County, on the second day of his visit where he met local officials and the Joint County Security Team.

Local security chiefs from the Liberia National Police, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, National Fire Service, National Bureau of Investigation, and Drug Enforcement Agency pointed to the lack of logistics as the major challenge undermining their ability to effectively maintain security in the county: "the entire security in Bong County is logistically paralyzed." Drug trafficking, and armed robbery were also mentioned as some of the problems threatening security in the region.

Mr. Le Roy also visited the Bong County Circuit Court where he met officials of the court who briefed him about the challenges to effective administration of justice in the county, including the lack of human resources and inadequate logistical support.

The UN Under-Secretary-General expressed the UN's determination to continue to support Liberia's security agencies as well as the judicial sector to re-establish state authority in the counties. However, he stressed that "the UN and donors cannot do all, funds must also come from the national budget; donors want to help those who help themselves." He also called for transparency in the management of public funds, pointing out that "corruption deters donors."

Mr. Le Roy had, on the first day of his visit, toured the Monrovia Central Prison, accompanied by the Assistant Minister for the Bureau of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Ms. Fatumata Sheriff.

Various issues affecting inmates, including delay in the pre-trial process, overcrowding at the facility and the need for increased funding for the Corrections sector were raised.

On the concluding day of his visit, Mr. Le Roy held discussions with the Liberian Government Security Pillar, UNMIL leadership, members of the UN Country Team, members of the Diplomatic Corps, leaders of political parties and the International Contact Group on Liberia before leaving Liberia.

The Liberian government and, to a greater extent, UNMIL are responsible for security of the country; to maintain peace and stability which are central the government's poverty reduction strategy (PRS).

Liberia's PRS articulates the Government's overall vision and major strategies for moving toward rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth and development during the period 2008-2011.

The PRS is being implemented between April 1, 2008 and June 30, 2011 (the end of the 2010/2011 fiscal year).

The donor-dependent US$1.6bn program is crafted with four major pillars including enhancing peace and national security, governance and the rule of law, economic revitalization and rehabilitation of infrastructures and delivery of basic social services.

Though the government recently admitted a failure in meeting targeted goals of the PRS during its first year implementation, investigations reveals that some major targets were met under pillar one: Enhancing Peace and National Security which includes conducting training and building capacity in all of the key Liberian national security institutions based on internationally recognized and acceptable curricula with gender sensitive modules.

The pillar achieved the training of over 2,000 soldiers for the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL); 3,500 National Police officers; 500 Emergency Response Unit (ERU) officers for the LNP as a specialized armed anti-crime unit; 91 civilian staff for the Ministry of National Defense; 2,000 Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization officers (still ongoing); 200 National Security Agency (NSA) officers; and a significant number of officers for the Special Security Service (SSS) and the Liberia National Fire Service (LNFS).

it however did not meet all of the targets of 2008 including: streamline security institutions to curb proliferation of agencies, April-December 2008; Repeal and amend statutory provisions of streamlined security agencies and that of host agencies in line with the National Security Strategy of Liberia and National Security Architecture, December 2008; Formulate Standard Operating Procedures for the new architecture, December 2008; Include gender sensitive, disabilities sensitive, and environment sensitive modules in curricula of security institutions, December 2008; provide more training for some security institutions, and provide logistics, equipment, and adequate remuneration for operation (on course), April-December 2008; Establish the National Coast Guard pending enactment of the Defense Act (done) July 2008, among others.