Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said on Monday that Liberia's image had been restored as the country started toward rebuilding its infrastructure in her first year as Africa's first female head of state.
Sirleaf spoke in a State of the Nation address to the legislature -- her first major speech to the country's lawmakers since immediately after taking office last January.
"We have restored our country's international image and reclaimed its place among civilized nations," Sirleaf said.
Like much of the laws of the West African country, the event is modeled on the US system, a State of the Nation address based on the State of the Union speech given by the US president.
The president declared Liberia "peaceful, secured, hopeful and strong," as it worked to rebuild after more than a decade of civil war. Some members of the legislature and Liberia's Supreme Court did not attend the speech, an apparent boycott following infighting in the country's House of Representatives that led to the removal of the speaker.
Those who did attend -- the majority of legislators -- repeatedly applauded Sirleaf.
"We are rebuilding our broken infrastructure and we have reopened the doors of our schools and are improving them for our children," she said.
One of Sirleaf's reforms has been to mandate free primary education, though a shortage of funds and supplies has meant that the goal has yet to be attained.
Sirleaf said that her government collected US$114 million in revenue last year, a large jump from the US$77 million collected the previous year by the interim government.
Liberia became Africa's first republic in 1847, when it was established by freed slaves returning from the US. A 1980 coup marked the start of nearly 25 years of instability.
Warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor was ousted in 2003 and the country has since been struggling to recover from years of fighting.
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