The international community has yet to develop a coherent strategy for the execution of security sector reform (SSR) in peace operations. This paper, published by the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO), examines SSR in both UN and non-UN peace operations. SSR in peace operations is as much about processes, policies, institutions, legislation and political will as it is about training and equipping police officers, customs officials and soldiers.
The security sector is a broad grouping of state and non-state institutions and armed and un-armed actors that positively or negatively affect public safety and the rule of law. Security sector good governance is a sine qua non of effective rule of law. Traditionally viewed as a separate issue, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) is at the heart of the SSR process.
The UN has developed expertise and credibility executing peace operations that provide emergency relief and immediate post-war stability. However, SSR in UN and non-UN peace operations emphasises individual capacity building; it does not address political, financial, policy and institutional issues. The short-term focus of UN and non-UN peace operations hampers the extension of SSR activities into the long-term.
The following country review of SSR in peace operations highlights the lack of international focus on security sector management and oversight:
- East Timor has national security policy structures, but they exist largely on paper. The country’s armed forces are poorly managed. UN defence force development is mixed and has not resulted in transparent and accountable police systems and procedures. The national legislature is not regularly consulted about SSR issues.
- Kosovo suffers from uncoordinated international power arrangements that hamper SSR. Kosovo’s defence force was developed without adequate civilian or ministerial management; donors have not placed the force into the security sector development matrix. The UN created the police service and provides its management and oversight. Kosovo’s national assembly is prohibited from participating in oversight of the security sector.
- Iraq´s insecure political environment and lack of coalition credibility do not allow the political space required to consider national security issues. SSR is in disarray; basic public security does not exist. International and national actors pursue SSR in a difficult, if not impossible, participatory decision making environment. They have dismantled an existing, albeit tainted, civilian administration.
- None of the countries reviewed have national security policies.
SSR increasingly requires skills in institution building, participatory decision making, public administration and management and legislative/policy development. To that end, the UN should develop a consolidated SSR policy and set of practices. Other recommendations include developing, at the earliest stages of peace operations:
- SSR and conflict assessments performed by independent bodies with peace operations expertise;
- National security policy frameworks and DDR;
- Defence and public security policy documents, strategic development plans and legislation;
- Operations concepts for defence and police forces;
- Civilian executive management and oversight mechanisms for defence and police forces; and
- Public administration institution capacity building.
