Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

A preliminary internal review of Dutch support to security sector development in Kosovo (November 2009) recommended to focus further support on the areas of police and justice institutional capacity building. This was supplemented by a specific recommendation to conduct a scoping/programming study on the police and justice sector.

The Netherlands requested ISSAT assistance to undertake a programming mission to help identify concrete needs in the Kosovar judicial and police sectors that lend themselves to programmatic Dutch SSD support, commencing in 2010. The purpose of such support was to assist the process of development within these components of the security sector so that they ultimately would be able to effectively and professionally deliver security and justice to the citizens in a transparent, accountable, fiscally sustainable and democratic manner, without international intervention or substitution. It was critical that support strengthens the activities of EULEX in these areas and was complementary to SSR related activities already undertaken by other donors.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands hosted an Introductory Security Sector Reform (SSR) Training Course from the 24 – 26 August, in the Hague.  The course was carried out in partnership with ISSAT.

Aimed at a broad, whole-of-government audience, the course included participants from different backgrounds (e.g. Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Development Agencies), and was particularly aimed at those holding middle management or desk-officer level positions with special responsibility on SSR issues. 

The Netherlands has requested ISSAT to support them in the running of a 2 day SSR Workshop in Kinshasa, DRC. The general objectives of the SSR workshop were threefold:

• To create a better understanding among the embassy staff and several donors about SSR (the key concepts, actors and principles) and of its political nature and the challenges faced when supporting SSR processes in conflict affected areas and fragile states;
• To equip the embassy and several donors with a set of basic operational and practical skills required to undertake SSR assessments and to engage in SSR programme design, if possible applying a whole-of-government approach;
• To facilitate discussions among the donors about their experiences (successes, failures, challenges and lessons learned) with activities in the field of SSR and, in doing so, strengthening the cooperation between the embassy and external partners

Participants included members of the International Community working in DRC (Embassy staffs, UN, NGO etc).

The l’Ecole de Maintien de la Paix Alioune Blondin Beye, ran a PSO/SSR/ToT Training Course from 15-26 August 2011 in Bamako, Mali. This course was carried out in close collaboration with the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT) of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). 

The training focused on mid-level officers. In the military that would include the following ranks: major, lieutenant colonel and colonel. Civilians from international, regional and national organisations and local and police members of an equivalent level were included as well. The participants covered professionals involved in planning and implementing SSR programmes in PSO.  

The two week training brought together approximately 25 participants, with training experience, from various African countries (mainly Western Africa). The first week of the course focused on topics such as Concepts of SSR, Gender, Mapping the security sector, SSR programming, Post-conflict SSR, Role of non-state actors and Coordination. The main goal of the first week was to familiarize the participants with the topic of SSR as well as SSR in relation to the environment of Peace Support Operations. The second week focused on training the trainers on delivering capacity building exercises involving SSR issues, by using exercises based on the previous week.

The Rwandan Military and Police authorities approached the Dutch Embassy with the request to reinforce their training capability for Peace Keeping operations, both through transfer of training skills as well as through the provision of training equipment for use in the Military and Police Academies as well as materiel for the training ground of the Rwandan National Police.

The objective was to formulate a single comprehensive project proposal, which combines the various peacekeeping related requests, for funding by the Dutch Stabilisation Fund.

ISSAT provided one advisor to undertake a scoping study as part of a Dutch team to review the feasibility of the three different possible support areas:

• Continued training in LOAC, ethics and military legal advice with the specific aim to gradually transfer training skills for these subjects to Rwandan trainers;
• To provide the newly established Peace Academy as well as the planned new Police Academy with furniture, IT and audio-visual equipment to facilitate training;
• To provide the RNP with materiel and equipment for their field-training site in order to better prepare for the field conditions in conflict zones where the police will be deployed.

Over the past 20 years multiple (bilateral) activities have been set up between the Netherlands and Indonesia. The Netherlands is now looking at a new, more comprehensive Security and Justice approach for Indonesia. Following the evaluation of the bilateral cooperation programmes carried out with ISSAT support in June and July 2012, the Netherlands  requested ISSAT support in the process to identify future programmes in the legal sector. 

ISSAT will provide one or two experts to support the Netherlands as follows:

• Presentation and lead discussion ISSAT report “Netherlands Assistance to the Justice Sector of Indonesia” September 17 to interviewees in The Hague.
• Provide input for setting-up Visioning exercise Security, Stability and Justice - 2 October 2012.
• Observation during Vision exercise and co-writing of concept note with main findings in corporation with DSH-SR and the Netherlands embassy Jakarta (lead writing of concept note).
• Participation in a validation exercise for security, stability and justice programme for continued Dutch involvement in Indonesia. 10 – 16 December 2012 (date to be confirmed).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands hosted an Introductory Security Sector Reform (SSR) Training Course during the 8 and 9 of November 2012, in the Hague.  The course was carried out in partnership with DCAF/ISSAT.

Aimed at MFA employees involved and/ or interested in SSR issues, the course included participants working at different locations and on different topics, some experienced in SSR, some not. It was particularly aimed at desk-officer level positions with special responsibility for SSR issues. 

The main objective of this 2 days training course was to offer an overview of the key SSR policies, principles and actors and practices. The course also dealt with the highly political nature of SSR, highlighted some of its key challenges on the ground and proposed some solutions. Key topics covered included: introduction to SSR policies, principles and actors; SSR in different contexts; who’s who in the security sector; oversight and accountability; coordinating SSR programmes etc. Through an interactive and practical approach the training will use concrete case studies to apply concepts to practice. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands hosted an Introductory Security Sector Reform (SSR) Training Course during the 8 and 9 of November 2012, in the Hague.  The course was carried out in partnership with DCAF/ISSAT. 

Aimed at (MFA employees involved and/ or interested in SSR issues), the course will include participants working at different locations and on different topics, some experienced in SSR, some not. It is particularly aimed at desk-officer level positions with special responsibility on SSR issues.

Over the past 20 years multiple (bilateral) activities have been set up between the Netherlands and Indonesia. The Netherlands is now looking at a new, more comprehensive Security and Justice approach for Indonesia, and as such has requested ISSAT support to carry out an evaluation of the bilateral cooperation programmes (including the relevant MOUs concluded between Indonesia and the Netherlands) over the past 5 years with the aim to incorporate the lessons learned in the new programme. 

ISSAT will send a team of 2 experts to support the Netherlands as follows:

• Analysis of the different MOU’s, their implementation or possibly, the reasons for a lack of implementation;
• A description and analysis of the results of previous cooperation programs via project files/documents and meetings with relevant stakeholders, varying from implementing organizations in the Netherlands and Indonesia to donor agencies active in the legal field in Indonesia;

The formulation of an outline for future legal cooperation -in which priorities, added value of Dutch support, issues of coherence and an effective implementation structure are clarified and/or addressed- is an integral part of the final report. 

The Government of the Netherlands requested the assistance of ISSAT to support their Baseline Study of the Security Sector in Burundi as part of the Netherlands-Burundian Security Sector Development (SSD) Programme. ISSAT was requested to provide a military specialist with knowledge of the security/SSR context in Burundi.

Burundi and the Netherlands have cooperated on security sector development issues since 2004, which was formalised through the signing of a long term Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). As part of the MoU, the Netherlands and Burundi agreed to execute a baseline study of the security sector, to be undertaken by independent experts in the field of SSD, in close cooperation with Burundian and Dutch representatives.

The baseline assessment served two purposes:

1. To improve the understanding of the real and perceived of security needs, from an individual, institutional and political perspective. The study should also at the implications this will have for security provision, potential risks and challenges.
2. To provide a basis against which the results of the Dutch-BurundianSSDprogramme can be evaluated on an annual basis as well as at the end of the programme, and against which future activities can take shape.

The Government of the Netherlands requested ISSAT assistance to support their Scoping Mission for the Netherlands-Burundian support to Burundian Parliamentary Oversight over Security and Defence. This is a follow-on to the previous request for assistance for the baseline study. ISSAT was requested to provide an expert with knowledge of ethnicity and the security/SSR context in Burundi.

In addition to the ongoing baseline study, the Netherlands came up with a number of quick win/confidence building projects to be implemented between 2009 and 2010. The proposals included responding to the request to provide technical assistance from the Parliament, the Civil Society and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by:

• Supporting the Parliament in holding a hearing on the issues of ethnic balance within with security services;
• Organising a seminar for civil society on civil involvement in/oversight of the security forces;
• Organising a seminar on SSR for the Burundian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to assist their role as coordinators of the national SSR process.  

The Netherlands-Burundi cooperation was captured in a Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed in 2009. This MoU served as an umbrella for Netherlands-Burundi Security Sector Development Programme (SSDP) - which included 3 pillars: Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Defence and Security Sector Governance, for a period of eight years (2009-2017). This period was divided into four phases, each lasting two years. A strategic plan was developed for each phase. The programme was currently concluding phase I, with phase II officially commencing on I January 2012.

The overall objective of the mission was to assist the Netherlands Embassy in Burundi to evaluate the impact and results of Phase I of the Security Sector Development Programme. This included an analysis of the efficiency of the project implementation structures. The secondary objective of the mission was to assess the project design and relevance of Phase I of the SSDP. This assessment will be done to provide recommendations on any necessary amendments or alterations to the project. Such recommendations would reflect contemporary field conditions and lessons learned from Phase I.

The mission was divided into three parts – which would reflect the original SSD design: support to police reform, support to the reform of the army reform, an evaluation of the programme structure and coherence with SSR processes.

The Netherlands-Burundian cooperation was captured in a Memorandum of Understanding, signed in 2009. This MoU serves as an umbrella for the Netherlands-Burundian Security Sector Development programme that has 3 pillars: Ministry of Public Security (incl. the Burundi National Police), Ministry of Defence (incl. the Burundi Defence Forces) and Security Sector Governance and that covers a period of eight years (2009-2017). The programme was currently entering it phase II, for which strategic action plans are being developed. 

The Dutch Embassy Office in Burundi sought advisory field and training support from ISSAT to run two trainings for military and police officers who were responsible to draft the strategic plans of the military and the police. The objective of the two trainings was to ensure that the participants understood the concept of SSD and its main principles, and that they would be able to apply the SSD principles in their daily activities, particularly when drafting the strategic plans.

ISSAT supported the Dutch SSD Programme in Burundi to design and implement two 2-day training workshops for the military and the police to achieve these objectives. The two workshop was structured as follows:

D1-1: SSD concept and principles (2 sessions)

D1-2: SSD programming in post-conflict contexts, SSD and gender (2 sessions)

D2-1: Case study (Guinea-Bissau for the military, Kosovo for the police) (2 sessions)

D2-2: SSD-approach to defence/police development, brainstorming on SSD in Burundi (2 sessions)

The participants included 20-25 military officers and around 30 police officers. The military participants included officers in charge to draft the strategic plans on the basis of the National Defence Review; some members of the MoD executive secretariat in charge of drafting the National Defence Review, and some national members of the management unit of the Dutch SSR programme. The police participants included officers in charge of implementing training projects and general staff officers in charge of planning.

The mandate was part of the on-going mentoring support that ISSAT is providing to the Burundi SSD Programme. 

• Burundi is currently preparing a national security strategy. This strategy and its related national policies and plans will need to be implemented through involvement of, and investments by, the Government of Burundi in collaboration with its development partners. It is therefore essential that all parties involved in the SSR process are brought together in order to develop a coordinated vision and approach to the support of the SSR process.
• Now is therefore a good time to perform an analysis of the security sector including the state of affairs of ongoing reforms; mapping of past, current and future involvement of donors; and formulate priority actions for the immediate and medium-term future.
• The analysis should bring together, under the central guidance of the Govt. of Burundi, all parties involved or interested in the SSR process in Burundi.
• Capacity to assist in this security sector analysis is available from the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT) located in Geneva.
• While carrying out the analysis and study of the SSR process in Burundi, important benefits can be had through capacity building of Burundian government officials involved in security sector development planning.

Train the train course for Army officers who succeeded in completing the UNITAR on line SSR course and who will deliver SSR training to Army officers and civil officials living in the neighbourhood of the Army barracks.