Author(s): Dr Amadeo Watkins
2010-01-29

Following the turbulent decade of war and destruction, Serbia has been gradually reforming its security infrastructure towards a more accountable and transparent system fully under control of democratic forces and in line with its internal requirements. This effort has been heavily influenced by the international actors who are keen to see Serbia stable and progressing towards Europe. This case study provides a critical assessment of the past ten years of assistance provided to this important sector. The paper concludes that much more needs to be done in donor cooperation and coordination in line with the Paris Declaration 2005, both on the donor end but more importantly at the recipient side. A recognition that SSR is not only about increasing operational capacity but also about enhanced service delivery, governance and accountability will go a long way to improving SSR in the case of Serbia.

Author(s): ICTJ
2009-06-26

Timor-Leste is a young country that has undergone a turbulent transition following 24 years of violent Indonesian occupation. It suffered from a brief but violent breakdown of security in 2006. Relative order was restored with the help of an international military contingent. Currently, a wide array of international donors is working with Timor-Leste to help support reform in the security sector. While many of these programs have had a positive impact, donor-driven security reform agendas have been under-coordinated. In the best of cases this has resulted in less than optimal results and in the worst of cases it has lead to animosity, tension, and violence. Fortunately, this paradigm is beginning to change, as the Timorese government takes steps to play a greater role in coordinating and managing its own security sector reform agenda. However, for this shift toward a more locally controlled SSR to be successful, the government must address the culture of impunity and strengthen the rule of law.

Author(s): Laura Davis
2009-06-24

Reforming the security system in postconflict environments to ensure security agents become protectors of the population is vital for peacebuilding and state-building. Justice-sensitive SSR aims to prevent recurrence and repetition of human rights violations by reforming abusive institutions, increasing their integrity, accountability and legitimacy, and transforming the institution’s role in society, including by empowering the citizens.

This paper draws on research into SSR and transitional justice in Afghanistan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Timor-Leste, and suggests ways in which the EU could improve the substance of its SSR programming and implementation by drawing on lessons from these cases.

Author(s): Enika Abazi, Aldo Bumci, Enri Hide and Albert Rakipi
2009-06-15

The report discusses Albania's security challenges and assesses projects undertaken in the context of its SSR: democratization of the police, armed forces and justice system; combating organized crime, illicit traffic and terrorism; mine action projects; small arms and light weapons control; community policing. Challenges relating to the reforms’ objectives, their implementation, sustainability and ownership; institutional coordination at the national and international levels; and the wider regional security context are explored. The report concludes that the greatest potential security benefits are associated with the long term stabilization of Albania’s legal environment, the fight against corruption and improved coordination among operating actors.

Author(s): Fatima Ayub, Sari Kouvo and Rachel Wareham
2009-04-29

This brief report describes and analyzes security sector reform, including rule of law and disarmament processes, in Afghanistan for the purposes of developing knowledge of these areas for European stakeholders. The findings of the report indicate that political choices made early on in the state-building process have contributed to the current governance and rule of law deficit in Afghanistan. European actions have been marked by a lack of coordination between political and development assistance as well as diverse-and sometimes conflicting-priorities between European Union institutions and its member states. While efforts to promote more accountability within the Afghan government have taken some shape, more action is needed to promote stability and good governance in the country. The recommendations of this report are intended to serve as guidelines for: general security sector reform; ensuring rule of law; and establishment of a professional civilian police force within the Afghan context.

Author(s): Sebastien Babaud, Virginie Giarmana, Robert Parker and Simon Rynn
2009-04-06

This paper is a synthesis of research findings and conclusions emerging from the Security Cluster of the European Commission-supported Initiative for Peacebuilding (IfP). It is designed to help EU and Member State policy-makers improve the impact of their security-related programming by identifying the challenges that prevent policy being implemented as intended and recommending alternative strategies. Based on detailed analysis and case study research, the paper summarises the main gaps identified in relation to EU and Member State security-building programmes and provides detailed recommendations on addressing these gaps.

Author(s): Denis Krivosheev, Mia Marzouk and Dorte Hvidemose
2009-03-16

Security sector reform (SSR) in Ukraine is a slow and complex process hindered by the Soviet legacy, competing political interests and lack of a clear national sector-based strategy. International donors’ support covers many aspects of Ukraine’s security system, but is far from well coordinated and strategic. Crucially, it often fails to focus its programming according to human security needs, which requires genuine public consultation during the planning and later stages. Two projects considered in this report, EUBAM and UPAC, illustrate how this gap can be partly addressed via engagement with communities and civil society in the course of project implementation.

Author(s): Laura Davis
2009-02-23

The Congolese security system is incapable of defending the state and the state’s authority, and poses a serious threat to the population, particularly to women and children. Impunity within the security system allows serious human rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence, to go unchecked. This paper argues that the EU should seek to incorporate justice-sensitive initiatives within SSR programmes, and encourage the prosecution of human rights violators. Only by tackling the culture of impunity and empowering the population to hold the security system to account, can it become a protector of Congolese citizens’ rights rather than a principal abuser.

Author(s): Julia Schünemann
2009-02-17

In spite of some generally acknowledged progress regarding the overall security climate in Haiti, stability and peace remain precarious. The peace dividend has still not translated into real livelihood improvement for the vast majority of Haitians who suffer severe levels of deprivation in terms of human development and human security. On the basis of a comprehensive security concept, this paper explores the EU’s response to Haiti’s situation of fragility and suggests that the role of a security-informed development actor is the most apparent opportunity for the EU to contribute to the larger ongoing peacebuilding process in the country.

Author(s): Charlotte Watson with Rebecca Crozier
2009-01-12

The accessible and accountable provision of security and justice is a key requirement for ensuring sustainable peace and economic and social development. In Nepal, there is an urgent need to address issues related to security provision and the security sector as part of the ongoing peace process. Success in security sector reform (SSR) is vital in ensuring the improvements to governance, without which further violent conflict in Nepal is likely. However, given the sensitivities that SSR terminology evokes, thought needs to be given to what can be done in the short term under the banner of public security to lay the groundwork for SSR. If something is not done to address the current public security situation, then any longer-term SSR initiatives will be jeopardised.

This briefing forms part of the EU-financed Initiative for Peacebuilding (IfP) It aims to connect the public security and SSR agendas in Nepal in order to inform ongoing discussions amongst donors and to explore the role that the EU could play in future security-enhancing activities in Nepal.

Author(s): Stéphane Mora
2008-11-03

Since its independence in 1962, Burundi experienced sustained periods of conflict and power competition during which the imbalances and the discriminations based on ethnic background, political affiliation, geographic origin and gender were institutionalized including within the defence and security forces. Following the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement of August 2000, and in an always very fragile social, economic, political and security context, the Security Sector Reform was begun with the increasing involvement of the international community. This study examines the level of coordination of the international actors’ SSR programs, their consideration of the communities’ security needs and concerns as well as their links with the other key processes associated.

Author(s): Sébastien Babaud and Evert Kets
2008-09-01

This document summarises the findings of a 'mapping' of the current EU institutions and Member State policies, debates and capacities in the field of SSR, with references to DDR and SALW where appropriate. It addresses the issues of policy and strategy development, institutional and financial arrangements and coordination and harmonisation among donors.

The document also intends to focus on the mainstreaming of crosscutting issues (human security, gender and transitional justice) within security policies in order to measure whether and how these institutions and Member States take into account the people's security needs and concerns.