Management and Administration

Mark Downes - Head of ISSAT  

Mark is the Head of the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT), at the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces (DCAF). 

He previously worked for the OECD DAC where he was responsible for conceptualising and developing the OECD DAC Handbook on SSR. While at the OECD he worked on a number of other security and conflict related issues including ODA eligibility and on armed violence reduction. 

He has published widely on security issues, has experience as an SSR and DDR trainer; and has worked on security and justice reform in a number of different contexts. He also previously served as Head of the Strategic Development Unit within the Law Enforcement Department of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro (2002-2004). 

Aji Buchanan - ISSAT Coordinator 

Aji supports the head of ISSAT in the financial management and oversight of resources, activity planning and coordination, human resources, in addition to, annual reporting and monitoring of ISSAT’s performance. 

She has previously worked within DCAF as Coordinator for the Office of the Deputy Director (DDO), responsible for the planning and implementation of DCAF's activities in Indonesia, Nepal, the states of the former Soviet Union and Turkey, and before that as Coordinator of the Border Security Programme in the Western Balkans. 

Prior to joining DCAF, Aji spent 17 years as an officer in the Royal Navy, and 4 years as a civil servant with the UK's Ministry of Defence. During this time she served at sea and worked in a number of international and joint service postings, including NATO HQ in SHAPE, Belgium, a secondment to the OSCE Mission in Bosnia & Herzegovina, and as the UK's Representative in the Regional Arms Control Verification and Implementation Assistance Centre (RACVIAC), near Zagreb, Croatia.