African Security Sector Network (ASSN)
The African Security Sector Network (ASSN) is a pan-African network of experts and organisations working in the area of Security Sector Reform (SSR). Founded in 2003, the network is headquartered in Accra, Ghana, with regional hubs in Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and Nairobi.
ASSN exists to facilitate progress towards the achievement of effective and democratically governed security sectors across Africa. It pursues this mission by working to strengthen the capacities of African governments, national security institutions, parliaments, intergovernmental organisations and civil society groups to undertake and own SSR programmes. The organisation also strives to expand the concept of African SSR through sustained research, publication and training.
mutete kashimani cyprian
African Security Sector Network ZambiaAm 51 years currently employed and doing my Masters in Defence and Security Studies at University Of Zambia
Kemi OKENYODO
African Security Sector Network Nigeria
Ms Oluwakemi Okenyodo (nee Asiwaju) has worked extensively in the area of police reform (particularly police accountability) in Nigeria and within the Anglo phone West Africa countries. . She is the Deputy Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation (a founding member of Altus) a non gvernmental organisation with offices in Lagos and Abuja which is aimed at promoting public safety, security and justice through empirical research, legislative advocacy, demonstrable programmes, publications in partnership with government and other civil society organisation
She is also the regional representative of Altus, an alliance of six well established organisations across five continents working together from a multicultural perspective on issues of safety and justice in thier different countries / region, thereby creating a larger role for civil soceity in advancing justice. She has written and published various articles on police reform such as Police Reform in Nigeria” which she co authotured with Otwin Marenin, in Policing Developing Democracies edited by Mercedes S Hinton and Tim Newburn, published by Rutledge (2008); Police and Policing in West Africa co edited Etannibi Alemika (2008); “The Challenges of Combating trafficking in women and children in Nigeria” (Paper presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the International PoliceExecutive Symposium that took place in Vancouver, Canada) published in Global Trafficking in Women and Children edited by Obi N. I. Ebbe and Dilip K. Das, CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group. She is a trained lawyer and has a Masters in Humanitarian and Refugee Studies from the University of Lagos.
Janine Rauch
African Security Sector Network AFRICAJanine is a South African criminologist (and chef) who has worked as an independent SJSR consultant for fifteen years, advising a variety of government and donor agencies on crime reduction and security sector reform strategies in Africa and elsewhere. In 2004-5 she managed a global research project on police accountability for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, based in New Delhi, India.
After 4 years working on DFID programs to support security sector accountability and police reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo, she spent the summer of 2011 at ISSAT in Geneva, working on projects in Serbia, Mali and South Sudan. In 2012 she supported the establishment of Corruption Watch, a new South African civil society initiative. She is an active member of the African Security Sector Network (ASSN) and the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI). Janine is currently the Team Leader for the design of a new Community Security and Justice programme in Ethiopia.
Call for Consultants - African Security Sector Network (ASSN)
Following the adoption of the African Union’s Security Sector Reform Policy Framework (AU-SSRPF) by the 20th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in January 2013, the ASSN has signed a Grant Support Agreement with the UN Office of Project Services (UNOPS) to develop a number of guidance tools and other instruments to support the implementation of the AU-SSRPF. A copy of the TOR can be viewed online at africansecuritynetwork.org. UNOPS support is within the framework of the project "Building AU Capacities in SSR - A Joint UN/EU Support Action", which seeks “to build African Union capacities in the key peacebuilding area of SSR through a partnership between the African Union, the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the European Union with the aim of better positioning the AU to support national authorities with effective SSR implementation to advance social justice and sustainable peace”. ASSN’s role is consistent with the tripartite agreement between the UN, AU, and ASSN, requiring ASSN to provide technical support to this project.
The ASSN seeks duly qualified individuals/consultants to lead respectively on the following:
- “AU Guidance Note on Developing National Codes of Conduct for African Security Institutions”
- “Operational Guidance Note (OGN) on SSR Assessments”
- “Operational Guidance Note (OGN) on Gender”
This assignment is expected to be process-driven, and both consultative and collaborative in approach. The lead consultant’s work will be supported by a small technical team and a larger reference group of key experts and representatives of stakeholder institutions. There will be at least one consultation workshop to review initial drafts and (where necessary) recommend revisions.
The consultant will be responsible for:
- taking the lead in drafting the document in question;
- ensuring quality and timely delivery of interim and final draft; and
- presenting the draft document during the consultation workshop(s), noting inputs and feedback, and modifying the draft to reflect such input and feedback as may emanate from the workshop(s).
The successful candidate will work with the technical team to develop a detailed implementation plan for approval by ASSN management.
It is expected that the successful candidate will have
- substantial policy and practical experience at a senior level in the specific thematic area (including—in the case of the OGN on SSR Assessments—participation in previous SSR missions);
- be familiar with SSR concepts, policies, and implementation; and
- excellent writing skills
Competency in one or more AU languages in addition to English would be an advantage but is not a requirement.
The work assignment will commence immediately an appropriate candidate is identified, or as soon thereafter as feasible.
Please submit a current CV and an expression of interest detailing qualifications and experience by email to info@africansecuritynetwork.org or by regular mail to
Elom Khaunbiow,
African Security Sector Network (ASSN),
27 Kofi Annan Avenue,
North Legon, Accra, Ghana,
P.O. Box AF2457, Adenta, Accra, Ghana
CLOSING DATE: 20 May 2013
Other Documents
ASSN Quarterly Newsletter Nr. 6 January 2013
ASSN Quarterly is published by the African Security Sector Network. It highlights the activities of the network, as well as other developments in the fields of Security and Justice Reform, both in Africa and beyond.
Below are some of the highlights in this edition:
- The African Union Launches a Programme to Build its Security Sector Reform (SSR) Capacity in partnership with the European Union, the United Nations and the ASSN
- A Stakeholders' Meeting on Lessons Learned in Kenyan Police Reforms, organised in Nairobi by the ASSN's Regional Hub for East Africa and the Great Lakes Region
- A Roundtable on Security Sector Expenditure Reviews, organised by the World Bank and the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT)
- Southern Africa Launches a Revised Strategic Plan on Defence and Security
- Papua New Guinea Develops a National Security Policy (NSP)
- Various updates about the Security and Justice Sector-related activities of individual members of the ASSN network, as well as the inauguration of the ASSN's new Interim Executive Committee and profiles of some of the ASSN's newest members