Bio Urges UN to Shift Global Priorities from War to Peace and Development

President Julius Maada Bio has called on world leaders to balance military expenditure with stronger investment in peace, development and human security.

Addressing the General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 22 September, President Bio said military action alone could not establish lasting peace. He urged governments to confront the poverty, exclusion, unemployment and weak institutions that can create conditions for conflict.

“Military action may contain a threat, but it cannot, by itself, build lasting peace,” President Bio said.

From resolutions to budgets

President Bio cited global military expenditure of almost US$2.9 trillion in 2025, which he said marked an eleventh consecutive annual increase. The figure and trend were presented as part of his appeal for a reassessment of international priorities.

He said the relationship between peace and development needed to be reflected in spending decisions rather than remaining a subject for declarations alone.

“The connection between peace and development must therefore move from our resolutions into our budgets,” he said.

His remarks referred to conflicts in Sudan and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as terrorism across West Africa and the Sahel. He argued that lasting stability would require action on the economic and institutional conditions that leave communities vulnerable to violence.

Call for fairer global finance

The Sierra Leonean president also pressed for changes in the international economic system. He called for developing countries to receive stronger representation, fairer voting power, affordable finance and better treatment on debt within international financial institutions.

The speech did not set out specific implementation plans, funding mechanisms or timelines for those proposals.

Africa’s minerals and young people

President Bio said Africa should capture more economic value from its critical minerals. He called for processing at source, fairer value chains, technology transfer and the growth of local industry.

“The green transition must not reproduce the extractive terms of the past,” he said, linking the issue to the global shift toward cleaner energy.

He also warned that young people without jobs, skills or a meaningful stake in the future could become vulnerable to exploitation, smuggling and dangerous migration.

Sierra Leone’s experience

Drawing on Sierra Leone’s experience of conflict and recovery, President Bio said peace became meaningful through the rebuilding of communities, institutions and public confidence, not only through the formal end of the civil war.

He urged the international community to restore confidence in multilateral cooperation. Referring to the United Nations theme, “For All”, he said: “The words ‘FOR ALL’ should not remain at the end of this year’s theme. They must become the measure of our work.”

He concluded with an appeal for the session to give people renewed faith in international cooperation: “Let this session give them that reason.”