When world leaders gather, it is those with edifying stories to tell, who have the ability to inspire, who have the wisdom to impact the lives of their peers that are called upon to speak. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is no doubt one such leader – no wonder the White House protocol team chose her from amongst two dozens other African heads of state and governments to address President Barack Obama's luncheon on the first day of the opening session of the UN General Assembly. The Analyst looks at media reports and White House press briefings from New York.

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, yesterday, addressed a luncheon hosted by US President Barack Obama on youth and jobs.

President Sirleaf, who was invited by the US President to kick off the discussion shortly after his opening remarks, told the luncheon that Liberia's postwar recovery was hinged upon providing training and jobs, especially for the youth most of who were affected by the Liberian civil war in a number of ways.

She said bringing the young people into the fold of the labor market was a daunting challenge for most African nations as they confront with very large youth populations.

The Liberian leader noted the kind of pressure that puts on labor markets as more and more young people enter the labor market every year and stressed the need for job creation efforts to catch up with that, in addition to education efforts so people are ready to take on those jobs.

She then emphasized the need for finding programs that were supportive for women and girls, noting that her administration was making very impressive strides in that direction with the assistance of her partners.

Two other African leaders were selected to highlight the progress their countries were making under their direction, U.S. officials said. The two who spoke during the occasion following the remarks of President Sirleaf were President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who spoke on investment, and President Jakaya Kidwete, who spoke on agriculture.

President Obama's luncheon was attended by 25 African heads of state and governments, plus AU Commissioner Jean Ping.

For his part, President Paul Kagame particularly stressed the importance of regional initiatives and of infrastructure.

Besides putting African issues in the spotlight, White officials told journalists in a post luncheon briefing that the idea behind the luncheon was to foster a dialogue and build on some of the themes that President Obama articulated when he was in Accra, particularly ideas about the importance of partnership and creating opportunity, which was one of the big themes in his speech to parliamentarians in Ghana.

"It focused on kind of three topics: job creation, particularly for youth; then increasing trade and investment; and particularly strengthening the agricultural sector and agricultural productivity," said one presidential aide.

It was scheduled to coincide with the first day of the annual opening session of the United Nations on General Assembly.

"This event will focus on how the United States can work in partnership with African governments to strengthen African economic and social development," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told reporters last week. "The talk will focus primarily on three topics: job creation, especially for young people; creating a more conducive climate for trade and investment; and ways to mobilize African agriculture to create jobs and help feed the continent," she had said.

A number of the leaders taking part in the lunch made last-minute decisions to come to New York after White House invitations were issued early last week.

Because only the top leader in each country was invited, several presidents opted to attend rather than leave their countries unrepresented at the high-profile event.

In what one senior U.S. policymaker said was "an embarrassing error by an over-zealous official," Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga was initially invited and then told that he was not eligible to attend. President Mwai Kibaki is not taking part in this year's General Assembly debate.

"If Kikwete had not been able to come," the senior aide said, "we wouldn't have invited Tanzania's prime minister either."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who made a seven-nation, 11-day trip across Africa last month, played a major role in shaping the luncheon and will attend as well, the official said.

Obama is making his first appearance as U.S. president at the United Nations, where he took part in a climate change summit, also yesterday, addressed the General Assembly on today and chair a high-level Security Council meeting on nuclear disarmament on Thursday before leaving for the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh.

President Obama told the African leaders yesterday in his opening statement that an Africa that's prosperous and at peace is vital to the interests of the United States and the rest of the world and that that Africa's future is up to Africans.

Rice said yesterday's luncheon offered an "unprecedented" opportunity for the president "to engage with leaders from African countries on the issues that are frankly most pressing to them."

President George W. Bush held several group sessions with African presidents at the White House, and, in 2002, met with 11 leaders in three separate gatherings while he was attending the General Assembly opening debate in New York.

But yesterday's event represents the first time an American head of state has hosted such a large number of his African counterparts.