Norway Ministry of Foreign Affairs

One of the priorities of the ISSAT is the development of SSR capacity, both of ISSAT members but also the wider international community and civil society.

One of the main vehicles towards developing a standardised approach to SSR education and training, has been the development of the Association for SSR Education and Training (ASSET), which brings together training organisations and institutions that support the development of SSR capacity within governments, donors, security sector institutions, parliaments, civil society organisations and international/regional organisations.

The ISSAT was one of the founders of the ASSET, together with the GFN-SSR, FBA and SNDC. ISSAT also Chairs the coordinating committee. Through supporting the 2^nd Annual General Meeting the objective is to push forward the fulfillment of ASSET’s 2008-9 programme of work, which includes the development of SSR training tools and the development of a more standardized approach to SSR education and training.

Standardisation and support to regional organizations and the UN was one of the main topics of the AGM. The AGM was hosted by ACCORD in Durban, South Africa in March 2009.

This briefing aimed to provide participants with an overview of SSR policy and practice. It charted the development of the evaluation of the SSR concept, outlining the different international approaches that exist including the UN, OECD, EU and the emerging ECOWAS approach. The briefing included a discussion on the question of whether Norway currently has the right capacity available to support SSR both multilaterally and bilaterally.

The Norwegian and Irish governments requested ISSAT’s support in the organisation of a Security Sector Reform training for civil society organisations in Timor Leste. In collaboration with a local partner -Fundasaun Mahein - ISSAT conducted a three-day training programme in Dili, Timor Leste in late September. The training brought together civil society representatives from Timor Leste and the broader South-East Asian region.

Overall objectives of the training programme included:

• Increased SSR capacity for civil society organisations;
• Dialogue and discussion among various civil society actors;
• Greater understanding on the purpose, goal, processes and principles of SSR.

The target audience for the training were Timorese civil society organisations and personnel with direct and indirect involvement in security sector development.

Norway and Sweden have requested ISSAT support to carry out an SSR Assessment in Liberia with a view to providing  recommendations on how these two countries can best contribute to the SSR process in Liberia. 

The assessment focused on two key aspects:

1. Potential areas/sectors for Swedish/Norwegian support.
2. Funding mechanism s in place that could potentially be used by Norway and Sweden to support Liberia’s SSR efforts.

To address these two issues, ISSAT considered the following sub-questions:

1. What are the challenges and opportunities for SSR in the short term (2012-13), medium term (next 5 years) and long term (10-15 years)?
2. To what extent are current donor engagements, including Norway’s and Sweden’s, addressing the above challenges and opportunities?
3. How can additional support complement and strengthen ongoing initiatives?
4. Are the funding mechanisms in place in Liberia efficient, and do the activities they support sufficiently address the Liberian people’s needs for access to security and justice?
5. How can the joint collaboration between Norway and Sweden in SSR bring about synergies and maximize resources/results?