For security sector reform (SSR) to succeed in Afghanistan, a holistic approach is needed that includes good governance, law enforcement and economic development. This paper evaluates and analyses the institutional limitations and weaknesses of the police and judicial sectors in Afghanistan. Unless SSR is instituted at the highest justice levels in Afghanistan, local judicial ...» more
Library
This e-library contains more than 4500 external publications on governance, social development, conflict and humanitarian issues. It includes academic and grey literature selected for its basis in good quality research and coverage of a range of perspectives. Policy-oriented summaries of each document are provided, plus links to the full text.
State-Provided Service, Contracting Out, and Non-State Networks: Justice and Security as Public and Private Goods and Services
When states are unable to provide adequate security, provision often comes instead from local non-state bodies, private security companies and criminal groups. This paper examines the current status of state and non-state/local justice and security networks in fragile states. Donors can improve security and justice delivery by strengthening both state and non-state security ...» more
Security System Reform: What Have We Learned? Results and trends from the publication and dissemination of the OECD DAC Handbook on Security System Reform
The OECD DAC Handbook on Security System Reform was published in 2007. What impact has it had in the headquarters of donors and agencies and on the ground? This report, by the OECD, makes recommendations based on the responses received between April 2007 and April 2009. It addresses priorities outlined in the SSR Handbook, which include the challenges of bringing about ...» more
Security Sector Reform Monitor: Burundi
What progress has been made on police and justice reform in Burundi during the current security sector reform (SSR) process? This article, published by the Centre for International Governance Innovation as part of their Security Sector Reform Monitor series, argues that both continue to face significant challenges. These include varying operational capacity across of the new ...» more
Preventing diversion of small arms and light weapons: Issues and priorities for strengthened controls
Virtually all states are committed to having effective national regulations in place to combat the diversion of small arms and light weapons (SALW). Unfortunately, implementation of these commitments remains patchy and inadequate. This report, published by Saferworld, examines issues and priorities for improving national controls and regional and international cooperation to ...» more
Policy on Support to Military and Policy Pre-Deployment Training for UN Peacekeeping Operations
What processes are in place to ensure that troops involved in UN Peacekeeping Operations are sufficiently trained? This policy document, published by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the Department of Field Support (DFS), outlines how these departments provide pre-deployment training (PDT) guidance and assistance to UN member states and associated ...» more
Evaluating for security and justice
At present there is little guidance on monitoring and evaluating (M&E) security sector reform (SSR). This report, published by Saferworld, considers what the main challenges are in this area. It also looks at what should be measured, what resources can be drawn on when developing guidance, and who would use this guidance. It focuses particularly on donor-supported SSR ...» more
Changing Security Dynamics in Nepal
The future of Nepal depends on building a peaceful, democratic state that can overcome the recent conflict and provide a stable environment for economic and social development. Yet there is little consensus about what shape reform should take. This publication from the Nepal Institute for Policy Studies, supported by Saferworld, brings together eight papers by security ...» more
African Security Reforms and Law
Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Africa is generating appropriate global concern. How is it being implemented? Is it leading to development and good governance? Is it sustainable and does it safeguard democracy? This article, by African Law Publishing, Nigeria, analyses SSR in Africa. It offers a variety of definitions of SSR and the security sector. It notes successful cases of ...» more
Adapting Government for Stabilisation and Counter-Insurgency Operations
Since 2003, the UK has been involved in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq that have involved large elements of counter-insurgency (COIN). This article, published in the Royal United Services Institute Journal, explores the question of reform and adaptation for COIN by the British Government. It criticises the lack of coordination between government departments and Whitehall’s ...» more
Afghanistan’s National Security Forces
What are the components of the national Afghan forces? What are the US and NATO doing to improve the Afghan national forces and with what aim? This Council on Foreign Relations article discusses this issue and provides some answers to these questions. The article firstly provides a background to the mission of the US military and NATO in Afghanistan. It follows with a breakdown ...» more
Fixing Broken Windows: Security Sector Reform in Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen
Recent (US) and European Union (EU) security sector assistance in Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen has focused on counterterrorism at the expense of building democratically accountable security institutions. This Carnegie Endowment for International Peace paper reviews and evaluates the political and operational effects of the US/EU security sector reform (SSR) approach in these ...» more
The Prisoner of Peace – An Interview with Kofi A. Annan
As chief mediator in the violent aftermath of Kenya’s 2007 presidential election, Kofi Annan’s authority, background and personality contributed greatly to a successful mediation. This paper, published by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD), is a record of an interview conducted with Annan by the CHD on the Kenyan mediation process. In Annan’s words: 'I knew what was ...» more
The challenge of building sustainable peace in the DRC
Ten years after the end of the second Congo war, violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) persists and armed groups operate with impunity. This Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue paper examines key lessons learned from recent mediation efforts and current challenges to durable peace in DRC. There is an urgent need to address the issue of long-term international and ...» more
Reflections on Guns, Fighters and Armed Violence in Peace Processes
Despite the fact that negotiating security issues is a political endeavour, security concerns must be given high priority in peace processes. This Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue paper presents a collection of voices and experiences on security issues in recent peace processes in Colombia, Uganda-Sudan and Azerbaijan-Armenia. Rather than limiting their role to post-agreement ...» more
Meeting Report – African Mediators’ Retreat 2009
Africa has produced many able mediators in the past fifty years; it is time to refine, improve and assert this homegrown peacemaking capacity. This paper, published by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, reports on the African Mediators’ Retreat 2009, held to assess mediation efforts in various African states. Future discussions of the role of African mediators should address ...» more
Coping with Global Change – Proceedings of the 8th International Security Forum
Security agendas worldwide are experiencing a trend away from traditional conflict between or among states to non-traditional threats such as intrastate conflict and terrorism. This paper, from the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, reports on the proceedings of the 8th International Security Forum held in 2009. Coping with future security challenges ...» more
Addressing explosive ordnance in peace processes
Unexploded and abandoned explosive ordnance presents immediate and long-term personal and economic threats to people and societies and deserves the attention of peace processes. This Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue paper discusses explosive ordnance issues, their treatment in peace agreements to date and how to include them in future peace processes. Negotiators have a range ...» more
The Logic of Warlord Politics
Where do warlord regimes emerge from, what are their actions and the impact of their existence on politics? What is the general nature of warlord politics? This article offers an initial framework for future theory of warlord politics using a simple game-theoretic approach. Through case-studies and empirical research, clear explanations as to the strategic decision of warlords ...» more
State Building or Crisis Management? A Critical Analysis of the Social and Political Implications of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands
What is the purpose of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI)? Is it a technocratic exercise in statebuilding and capacity development by outsiders, or should it be seen as a political project to promote regional stability and dialogue? This Third World Quarterly paper critically examines the nature of RAMSI by focusing on the ways in which political power ...» more
