speeches

🎤 Presidential Address · UN Security Council · August 2024 · New York Address Presiding Over the United Nations Security Council — Historic Reform Debate In August 2024, President Julius Maada Bio presided over the United Nations Security Council — one of the most consequential diplomatic stages in the world. Sierra Leone had secured its UNSC seat for 2024–2025 with an extraordinary 188 of 192 member state votes — its first seat in over 50 years and a near-unanimous global endorsement of the country’s governance trajectory under President Bio. The Reform Agenda As Coordinator of the AU Committee of Ten (C-10) for the Reform of the UN Security Council, President Bio used the platform to champion Africa’s demand for permanent UNSC representation — enshrined in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. The session was historic: it placed the question of UNSC reform directly on the Council’s formal agenda, a long-standing objective of the African Union. ❝ “Africa is in the room — and Africa’s voice will be heard. The reform of this Council is not optional. It is overdue.” Resolution 2803 — November 2025 Still presiding over the UNSC in November 2025, President Bio led the Council in adopting Resolution 2803 — passed 13 votes to 2, authorising an International Stabilization Force in Gaza and establishing a transitional Board of Peace. He called it “a pivotal step toward lasting peace.”

🎤 National & Regional Address · International Women’s Day · 8 March 2026 Women’s Leadership is Not a Concession — It is a Right to be Affirmed On Women’s Empowerment In one of his most quoted passages, President Bio declared: “Women’s leadership is not a concession to be granted — it is a right to be affirmed.” He traced this conviction through legislative action: the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Act mandating 30% women in governance, free STEM tuition for women, and targeted scholarships for girls. Leadership and Innovation Prize President Bio announced the annual Julius Maada Bio Leadership and Innovation Prize — to be awarded each year to those whose service exemplifies the pillars of transformational leadership. ❝ “Women’s leadership is not a concession to be granted — it is a right to be affirmed.” The Unfinished Work He was candid about what remains: structural barriers in courts, communities, and cultures that no Act of Parliament can fully reach. “We have changed the law. Now we must change the mind.” He called on ECOWAS member states to adopt similar frameworks, using Sierra Leone’s model as a blueprint for the region.

H.E. President Julius Maada Bio · Inaugural JMBLC · 12 May 2025 · Bintumani Conference Centre, Freetown “The Role of Servant Leadership in Sierra Leone’s Future” Delivered on his 61st birthday, President Bio’s keynote was one of the most personal and philosophically rich speeches of his presidency — part autobiography, part philosophical treatise, part national call to arms. Four Pillars of Leadership The speech distilled a lifetime of leadership into four pillars:  Service Without Title — “the truest measure of influence is quiet, steadfast service that requires no title”;  Education — “the key that unlocks the mind’s horizon”;  Faith, Humility and Accountability — “humility tempers ambition, reminding us of our limitations”; Trust and Collective Potential — “human progress is born of shared purpose.”   ❝ “Leadership is not conferred by rank or title, but by the bond of trust between those who lead and those they serve.” On Women’s Empowerment In one of his most quoted passages, President Bio declared: “Women’s leadership is not a concession to be granted — it is a right to be affirmed.” He traced this conviction through legislative action: the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Act mandating 30% women in governance, free STEM tuition for women, and targeted scholarships for girls. Leadership and Innovation Prize President Bio announced the annual Julius Maada Bio Leadership and Innovation Prize — to be awarded each year to those whose service exemplifies the pillars of transformational leadership.