Security mapping exercise
This report was produced under the Initiative for Peacebuilding, an EC funded project to develop and promote knowledge and expertise on conflict prevention and peace-building and recommend practical ways to implement people-centred approaches to security building activities. The project draws together the complementary geographic and thematic expertise of 10 civil society organisations (and their networks) with offices across the EU and in conflict-affected countries.
In recent years, Security Sector Reform, also known as Security System Reform (SSR) has emerged as a favoured means to address the links between security and development within the international donor community. SSR has been conducted in different types of situations, from Fragile States and post-conflict settings to more stable regions undertaking democratisation processes. In these different contexts, linkages between SSR processes and Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) and Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) issues are commonly acknowledged and some attempts made to coordinate or link programme activities in these different areas so that they are complementary.
This report 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.The findings are meant to support the IfP teams performing in-country case studies in Albania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Haiti, Nepal and Ukraine.These teams are tasked with examining the realities of police implementation and the extent to which SSR programmes are actually benefiting local communities. Consequently the mapping is intended as a reference document for team members, providing sufficient but not exhaustive detail on each donor or institution it covers.
The authors decided to concentrate their efforts on EU institutions (the European Commission and the Council of the European Union) and six Member States (Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom) that have been particularly influential at the policy level and/or active on the ground. However, the document makes regular references to the OECD-DAC since it has played an important role in shaping and promoting a common understanding of SSR. It also addresses the issues of policy and strategy development in the field of SSR, institutional and financial arrangements to respond to the integrated dimension of these reform processes, coordination and harmonisation among donors.
