Monrovia - On 27 February 2017, the UNMIL Police Commissioner (PC) attended the Senior Leadership Working session on the final draft of the National Security Strategy.

Around 40 participants from the Ministries of Justice, National Defense, Internal Affairs, Finance and Development Planning, Labor, University of Liberia, security agencies, civil society groups, United States Embassy, Swedish Embassy , African Union, ECOWAS, UNDP and UNMIL attended the meeting.

The chair of the National Security Advisor (NSA), Hon. Dr. Boima Fahnbulleh, noted that Liberia has reached a crucial stage in the review of the NSSRL and emphasized the role that the County and District Security Councils are playing in ensuring the inclusion of communities from the rural areas into this process. The NSA further informed that NSSRL will be presented to the newly elected Government in 2018 for its appreciation and implementation. In his closing statement, he thanked the international partners for their full commitment in making Liberia a post-conflict success history.

The UNMIL PC commended the NSC for conducting a comprehensive and inclusive review of the NSSRL. While recognizing the importance that the 2008 NSSRL had in building of Liberia’s security architecture, he suggested that the review was an opportunity to identify the national security priorities for the next few years.

The PC also noted the pressing need to build the capacity of the NSC Secretariat to enable its office to monitor the NSSRL’s implementation and to undertake its function as the nationwide security coordination body. He further encouraged all participants to discuss ways to address the continuality of security related projects after the 2017 election.         

While the NSC will review the final draft of the Strategy, UNMIL will continue supporting its Secretariat to develop the Implementation Plan, which is expected to be finalized in April 2017.