This report reviews the literature engaging with a key issue, the reform of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) in fragile and post-conflict countries.
While MoI reform is crucial to the success of Security Sector Reform (SSR), as it enables management and oversight of the internal security forces, it has often been neglected by international actors and by the SSR literature. The literature reviewed here mostly analyses case studies that include Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs).
The case studies highlight a range of challenges and problems in the international actors’ action such as organisational and political resistance, a lack of adaptation to local circumstances and a lack of coordination. The literature consistently recommends that international donors and agencies should work more politically and comprehensively to deal with the social and political embeddedness of the MoI.
