SSR Associates

Arezou Azad

An experienced SSR (Justice and Governance) advisor, Arezou has developed justice-sensitive SSR policies, and has field experience working on police reform and human rights, and in SSR assessments, M&E and training.  She has extensive UN experience and in supporting the policing components of technical assessment missions. She has a PhD in Oriental Studies and a Masters in international Affairs.  She speaks German, English, Persian, French and Portuguese.

Caroline Bahnson

Security and Justice Sector Advisor currently working as an advisor in the area of monitoring and evaluation of SSR.

Bjorn Holmberg

Dr. Björn Holmberg has more than 20 years of field and HQ experience on issues related to peace and human security from a theoretical and a “hands-on” perspective. He is presently Secretary General of Swedepeace Foundation (2009-), a non-profit and impartial foundation promoting peaceful conflict resolution and human security. 

Dr. Holmberg has been  Country Director for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) in Guatemala and Deputy Head of Mission at the Swedish Embassy in Guatemala (2006–2008). In Guatemala, he also served as President of the donor’s Group for Coordination of Development Cooperation (GCC/G-13). One of the achievements of this group was the Antigua II Accords that paved the way for international support to a national driven SSR process. 

Previously at Sida, he served as Head of the Division for Peace and Security (2005-2006) and Advisor on Peace and Security (2001–2005).  Dr. Holmberg was Vice Chair of the Network on Conflict, Peace and Development Cooperation (CPDC) of the OECD-DAC (2005–2006) and has been a member or chair of various CPCD task forces and working groups dealing with matters such as evaluation, security system reform (SSR), and armed violence reduction (AVR) (2001–2008). 

Before working at Sida, Dr. Holmberg served as Head of the UN Secretariat’s Regional Small Arms Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, stationed at UN-LiREC in Lima, Peru (1999–2001). Dr. Holmberg was a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, Sweden, and was a Visiting Scholar on the causes of war at the Department of Political Science at Rutgers University, NJ, USA (1992–1998). 

He holds a Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Research from Uppsala University and was commissioned as an Officer in the Army Reserve at the Swedish Infantry’s Officer Academy in 1989.  Dr. Holmberg has been published on different topics such as causes of war, conflict analysis, peacebuilding , peacekeeping, SSR, DDR, etc. 

Gordon Hughes

Gordon Hughes is the Senior Security Sector Reform (SSR) Adviser (Security) with ISSAT.  Previously, in 2009, he was the Chief Adviser and Deputy Head of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). In 2008 he undertook a 6 month assignment as the UN's Senior SSR Adviser drawing up a "road map" to guide the UN's emerging approach to security sector development. This UN assignment involved field assessments in the DR Congo, Burundi and East Timor. Since 2006 Gordon has been involved with the Centre for Security Sector Management (CSSM) at Cranfield University, UK, where he is currently a senior associate.

Gordon is a former UK Army brigadier with extensive experience from Africa, including working as a UK Regional Conflict Adviser. His military appointments included Commander British Forces (including the International Military Advisory and Training Team (IMATT)) in Sierra Leone, and Commander BMATT South Africa, where he led initiatives within the security sector on integration and training. He has commanded troops up to brigade level and served on operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Sierra Leone.

Specialist knowledge: strategic planning; conflict prevention; security sector development; post-conflict reconstruction; and training.
SSR experience: Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Burundi, DR Congo, Timor-Leste, Uganda and Nepal.
Gordon is a Graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies in London. He is a member of the Cranfield University International Advisory Board for the MSc in Security Sector Management, and the International Working Group on National Security.

Oren Ipp

Oren Ipp is an international development professional with more than ten years’ experience in democratic governance. His expertise is in fragile and post-conflict governance, with a regional focus on Afghanistan and South Asia. Oren has worked in the areas of security sector reform, political party development, election support, legislative strengthening, and civil society capacity building. Within these functional areas, Oren’s primary focus has been on programme design, management and monitoring and evaluation.
  
Oren is currently an adjunct assistant professor at New York University (NYU) as well as a consultant for a number of organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, and the consulting firm Development Transformations. Recent projects have concentrated on international support for post-conflict political settlements, the role of development assistance in counterinsurgency efforts and political party development. During 2006-2008, Oren was based in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he directed the national and sub-national legislative programs of the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
  
Among Oren's publications is the chapter “Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector in Afghanistan” in the forthcoming volume "Deconstructing Afghanistan's Security Sector.” Oren holds a Master’s degree in International Policy Studies from Stanford University.

Alexander Mayer-Rieckh 

Alexander Mayer-Rieckh is an expert in post-conflict public sector reform with a particular focus on integrity enhancement of personnel and structures, and with over fifteen years of work experience in countries emerging from conflict. He is a member of the AFTERCONFLICT GROUP and a member of the editorial board of the Security Sector Reform Monitor.

From 2003 to 2008, he was the Director of the Security Sector Reform Program at the International Center for Transitional Justice. Mr. Mayer-Rieckh was the Chief of the Human Rights Office of the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and worked for the United Nations in Geneva, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Timor-Leste. 

In 2003, he was the recipient of a fellowship at the Center for Civil and Human Rights, University of Notre Dame Law School, where he conducted research on vetting of public employees in transitional contexts. 

Mr. Mayer-Rieckh obtained his B.A. in philosophy at the Hochschule für Philosophie in Munich, his M.Div. at the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his Masters in Law at the Universities of Vienna and Salzburg. 

Natacha Meden

Natacha Meden has spent the past fifteen years working on and in countries emerging from conflict, thus gaining first-hand experience of the challenges those countries face as they seek to transition from conflict to peace consolidation, reconstruction and development.

Natacha’s work has focused on supporting end of conflict negotiations and the implementation of peace agreements, dealing with representatives of government, 'rebel' or 'resistance' groups and other forces.  While serving on the Secretariat of the World Bank administered Multi-country Demobilization and Reintegration Program (Africa – Great Lakes), she was involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration programs.  As United Nations SSR Officer, she was called upon to provide technical inputs to cease-fire agreement negotiations (Burundi) and advise on governance aspects of security institutions reform and development (Burundi, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau).  She also contributed to the policy dialogue on donor support to SSR in countries emerging from conflict.

She supported early reconstruction efforts as a member of the World Bank Resident Mission in Timor-Leste during the post-consultation transition to full independence, which gave her a full appreciation of the complexity of nation and institution building.  Her field work led her to develop an acute sense of the difficulties associated with the restructuring, reform and/or development of security institutions in conflict-affected environments.

Her experience in managing multi-stakeholder partnerships [Timor multi-donor reconstruction trust fund; Great Lakes multi-country, multi-donor DDR program; UN multi-disciplinary integrated missions] led her to become a seasoned problem solver able to engage at the human level with different actors to bring confidence to discussions and  help parties to bridge divides and find solutions. 

Currently, Natacha is a consultant with both the United Nations and the World Bank.  She occasionally serves as resource person to the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies on DDR and SSR related matters.

Natacha has graduate degrees from University Paul Valery, Montpellier, France.  She speaks French, English, and Portuguese fluently, and some Indonesian. 

Dr. Robert Muggah

Dr. Robert Muggah is a specialist in security and development and oversees research at the Igarapé Institute. He is also affiliated with the International Relations faculty of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro as well as the Center for Conflict, Development and Peace at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, in Switzerland. Robert Muggah has extensive experience overseeing large-scale research projects in more than 50 countries and has worked closely with dozens of multilateral and bilateral agencies on humanitarian action, development assistance, stability, security and defense policy. He also oversees a range of projects with universities in Canada, Switzerland, the UK and the US on urban violence, urban resilience, organized crime and cyberwarfare.

In addition to serving as a principal of The SecDev Group, Robert Muggah also oversees the Journal of Stability and sits on the boards of several international journals and organizations. Prior to joining Igarapé, he was the research director of the Small Arms Survey (2000-2011). He has authored five books and hundreds of chapters, journal articles, reports and media editorials. He earned a doctorate from the University of Oxford and an MPhil from IDS at Sussex University.

Laurie Nathan

Dr Laurie Nathan is a Visiting Professor at Cranfield University and Senior Researcher at the University of Pretoria. Between 1992 and 2003 he was Executive Director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution at the University of Cape Town.

From 1994 to 2001 Laurie was a policy advisor to the Minister of Defence and the chairperson of the parliamentary defence committee in South Africa. He drafted the White Paper on Defence (1996), the Code of Conduct for the South African National Defence Force (1999) and the defence foreign policy of the Department of Defence (1999). He was a member of the departmental drafting committees responsible for the Defence Review (1998), the Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act (1999), the White Paper on the South African Defence Related Industries (1999), the Defence Act (2002) and the Armaments Corporation of South Africa Act (2003). From 1995 to 2002 he served on the Civic Education Monitoring and Advisory Committee of the South African Department of Defence. In 2006 the Intelligence Minister appointed him to support the civic education programme for the South African intelligence services.

In 1994 Laurie was appointed by President Mandela to serve on the Cameron Commission of Inquiry into Arms Trade. In 1999-2000 he was an adviser to the Foreign Minister of Swaziland, who was then the Chair of the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee in Southern Africa. Laurie was the principal drafter of the SADC Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation (2001).

In 2005 Laurie was an adviser to the Palestinian security services and the Ward Mission on the preparation of a Palestinian White Paper on Safety and Security. In 2006 he was a member of the African Union mediation team for Darfur. In 2006-8 he served on the Ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence, established by the South African Minister of Intelligence. In 2009 he was appointed to the UN Roster of SSR Experts.

Laurie has served on a number of academic editorial boards; the International Advisory Board of the Masters Programme in Security Sector Management, Cranfield University; the Carter Centre’s International Council for Conflict Resolution; the Advisory Committee of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch; the Expert Advisory Group of the UNDP Democratic Governance Practice Network; and the Critical Review Panel of the OECD DAC Handbook on Security System Reform, OECD, 2007.

Laurie is the author of No Ownership, No Commitment: A Guide to Local Ownership of Security Sector Reform , University of Birmingham, 2007.

Janine Rauch

Janine has worked as an independent consultant for twelve years, advising a variety of government and donor agencies on security sector reform and community safety strategies in Southern Africa and elsewhere. She has also conducted numerous evaluations of international programmes in the fields of security and justice.   Before coming to ISSAT, she spent 4 years working on DFID programs to support security sector accountability, civil society mobilisation and police reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2004-5 she managed a global research project on police accountability for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, based in New Delhi, India.  

After South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, Janine was appointed as Advisor to the Minister of Safety and Security. Following the restructuring and demilitarisation of the South African Police Service, she was appointed Chief Director for Policy, where she oversaw aspects of the transformation of policing such as basic recruit training, labour relations and amalgamation of the eleven apartheid police forces into the new SA Police Service. In 1996 she led the interdepartmental process of developing South Africa’s first National Crime Prevention Strategy. 

Subsequent to leaving the South African public service, Janine worked as a consultant for a variety of INGOs (ICTJ, Clingendael) and donors (DFID, DANIDA, UNDP, the European Commission, and the Open Society Foundation) on program designs and evaluations.  Since 2007, she has worked mainly in DRC on police reform, citizen participation and security sector accountability.

Janine has degrees in Criminology from the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and from Cambridge University (UK). She has researched and published extensively on police reform and crime prevention in South Africa. Janine holds a part time post at the Centre for Defence and Security Management at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Ilona Szabo de Carvalho

Ilona Szabo de Carvalho is the director of the Igarapé Institute and serves as the co-coordinator of the Global Commission on Drug Policy Secretariat and formerly on the secretariat of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy. She acted as the civil society liaison with the Quakers UN Office (Geneva) to the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development between 2008 and 2011. In 2009 and 2010 Ilona designed and produced a short documentary film entitled Faces of Violence, and was also the co-script writer and researcher for the documentary Breaking the Taboo, on drug policy issues. Before starting the Igarape Institute, she coordinated the world’s largest disarmament campaign and a national referendum to ban the sale of handguns to Brazilian citizens together with Viva Rio. She earned a Master Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Uppsala in Sweden and is a Specialist in International Development, from the Oslo University.

Pascal Vander Espt

Pascale Vander Espt is a lawyer with expertise in justice reform issues and international human rights law. She has worked in the human rights and justice departments of several UN peace-keeping missions (Angola, East-Timor) and has assisted in establishing the UN Human Rights Office in Angola. She also worked for several NGOs, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Malawi.

More recently, she has worked for EuropeAid, the Cooperation Office of the European Commission (2004- 2010), where she was in charge of the quality of operations and the provision of thematic support to EU Delegations abroad in the design and formulation of programmes in the justice sector, both in ACP countries and Latin-America. She is now using this expertise as an independent consultant.

Pascale Vander Espt is also an attorney-at-law, specialised in immigration and asylum cases. She holds a bachelor in law and a master’s degree in development studies.