About Us
Office of National Security
The Office of National Security (ONS) was established in 2017 by His Excellency President Adama Barrow to act as executive secretariat of the National Security Council (NSC) of The Gambia.
The ONS is also home to the International Advisory Group; a collection of security specialists from across the international community poised to assist in reform and capacity building of the security sector.
The National Security Adviser (NSA)
The Office of National Security is headed by the National Security Adviser (NSA). The work of the NSA is inter-ministerial and inter-sectorial in scope, which allows the NSA carry out the following duties on behalf of the people of The Gambia:
- Advise the President and National Security Council on issues pertaining to the security of state, matters;
- Provide coordination across inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral (Internal and External) security operations;
- Act as principal channel of communication between the NSC and the security community on issues that concern security as a whole;
- Provide Support and Secretarial services to the NSC;
- Act as the focal point for the management of all National Security related policies across inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral.
- Monitor the implementation and update of the National Security Policy.
- Coordinate Security Sector Reform activities.
The post of an NSA is mandated to carry out the critical responsibility of providing executive support for the functions of the National Security Council and the coordination of the activities of the security sector, amongst other responsibilities. To carry out these functions as contained in the Terms of Reference for the NSA, functional and fully staffed structure is required.
The International Advisory Group (IAG)
The IAG was formed in 2017 out of the need to coordinate support on security sector reform to the Government of the Gambia. The group comprises a small team of security specialists funded by the European Union, United Nations (UNDP), African Union, ECOWAS, France and the United State of America. Support offered by the IAG is broad ranging and has covered senior advice, policy development, mentoring, coaching, workshop facilitation, training, legislative review, and a spectrum of specialist consultancy services on security sector reform and security capacity building. IAG members are advisers only – they are not leading the process of reform in The Gambia – and are reactive to the governments aims, objectives and priorities.
“My government, with the assistance of the EU, UN, ECOWAS and other partners has therefore also embarked upon a robust security sector reform process, aimed at bringing the security services fully under civilian democratic control, ensuring that the force’s structures and manpower are appropriate for our national security needs, and that the men and women in our armed and uniformed services can play a meaningful and positive role in national development”. Foreword of the National Development Plan by H.E President Adama Barrow.
