Intergovernmental organisations have assumed an increasingly important role in shaping the security sector reform (SSR) agenda. They have played a central role in designing and delivering programmes for reform and several have developed policy frameworks to guide their various SSR activities. This paper from the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) reviews the approaches of intergovernmental organisations with respect to SSR.
SSR has been shaped by a variety of policy experiences and this has a number of implications for intergovernmental organisations. Intergovernmental organisations may not recognise their activities as part of SSR, due to lack of familiarity with the concept or an overarching framework for SSR. SSR definitions and approaches can vary considerably from organisation to organisation. Until recently, intergovernmental organisations focusing on security and development had little contact with each other, despite being increasingly involved in the same countries and regions. Within organisations, material, administrative and human resources may not be organised in a way conducive to pursuing the holistic approach central to SSR.
A broad range of intergovernmental organisations is involved in SSR. These organisations tend to approach SSR from development, security or democratic governance perspectives and have a global, regional or sub-regional focus. They may carry out field activities, such as capacity-building and technical assistance, or norm development, or both. They may concentrate on SSR in different country contexts: developing, transition, post-conflict and developed. The main features of intergovernmental organisations involved in SSR can be summarised as follows:
- The African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) focus on norm development and concentrate on SSR in developing and post-conflict countries. Both have a regional focus.
- The Council of Europe and the European Union (EU) focus on both capacity-building and technical assistance and norm development. While the Council of Europe has a regional focus, the EU has a global focus and operates in all country contexts.
- NATO and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) focus on both capacity-building and technical assistance and norm development. Both operate in developing, post-conflict, transition and developed country contexts.
- The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank both focus on norm and policy development for developing, post-conflict and transition countries. They both have a global geographical scope.
- The Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe focuses on capacity-building and technical assistance. It has a focus on the Western Balkans and operates in post-conflict and transition countries.
Intergovernmental organisations face several challenges in shaping and implementing their SSR agendas, including:
- elaborating an effective SSR concept that effectively gives an overarching framework and orientation to the range of SSR activities in which they are involved;
- supporting policy frameworks with robust implementation guidelines based on an in-depth understanding of how SSR has been approached and been effective in different contexts;
- reviewing their internal procedures and the way they organise the human and material resources at their disposal;
- ensuring that they are able to work in synergy with other intergovernmental organisations and other entities engaged in SSR, both in the field and at home; and,
- ensuring that SSR activities are carried out in a transparent and accountable manner, establishing legitimacy for SSR programmes by demonstrating openness and responsiveness to stakeholders.
