Sara Beysolow Nyanti

Sara Frances Beysolow Nyanti (born 1968) is an international development expert, Liberian pastor and since February 2024 the Foreign Minister of Liberia. She has more than 20 years of professional experience. She was the United Nations Assistant Secretary General from December 2021 to her retirement in July 2023. Her mother worked multiple jobs to support her children. She attended the College of West Africa and Cuttington University.

From 2005 to 2009, Nyanti worked for the UN in Nepal, before becoming UNICEF HIV/AIDS advisor to the representatives in Namibia and Kenya in 2009. She was head of the UNICEF office in Lagos from 2015 to 2015. and in Yemen from 2019 to 2020. In January 2021, she was appointed Resident Coordinator for the UN in Nepal.

Nyanti was a key figure in the response to Nigeria's Ebola Virus Disease outbreak and has been a leader in the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2019, she has been the highest ranking Liberian in the UN.

In December 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Nyanti Deputy Special Representative, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan (UNMISS) and Resident Coordinator in South Sudan, succeeding Alain Noudéhou of Benin. The role is an Assistant Secretary General. Nyanti will be leading the UN's efforts in recovery and stabilization in the world's newest country.

She was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dean of the Cabinet in February 2024. She has spoken out and written about sexual violence in Liberia.

In 2014, Nyanti founded an NGO, The Development Brokers, which operates the Social Movement for Change (SM4C) to change impoverished communities in Montserrado County. She has launched two Rainbow Community Learning Huts for adolescent girls in response to escalating rape cases,

In the 2023 election, Nyanti ran for the presidency of Liberia with the African Liberation League party.

Personal life Nyanti is married to Stephen Joeboe Nyanti, and has children and grandchildren. She is a feminist and on her appointment with the UN in Nepal, named the many Liberian women who had inspired her.

Selected publications