I think the majority of the Liberian people want peace.

I just think that unless you have that cohesiveness in the family unit, the male character tends to become very dominant, repressive and insensitive. So much of this comes also from a lack of education.

We have to first secure the peace, we have to make our nation secure, people must feel safe and confident, ... That means we have to address the issue of young people particularly, the war-affected youths ? both ex-combatants as well as the victims.

The future belongs to us, because we have taken charge of it. We have the commitment, we have the resourcefulness, and we have the strength of our people to share the dream across Africa of clean water for all.

When I took office, Liberia began to recover from years of neglect. Our people have brought clean water into the heart of Monrovia to children who have never known water from a tap. Efforts are underway to expand water projects as much as possible throughout the country.

One has to look at my life story to see what I've done. I've paid a heavy price that many people don't realize.