Through its Knowledge Services, ISSAT fosters a learning environment for security and justice practitioners to exchange information, share good practice and facilitate communication.
The Security and Justice Reform Community of Practice
The Security and Justice Reform Community of Practice (CoP) provides practitioners with easy access to the collective wisdom and experience of the community while providing an environment where they can collaborate on the continuous development of good practice for security and justice reform. Registering on the DCAF-ISSAT website provides access to the CoP: this gives free access to e-learning courses, allows opportunity to post material to the Resource Library, post questions to the Forum, comments on Blog posts, and browse and contact other members of the CoP. In addition, a Weekly Digest of key additions to the vast repository of policy guidance documents, case studies, country profiles, videos and other resources in the Resource Library, is emailed to CoP members.
Methodology and guidance development
ISSAT has developed context-adaptable methodologies and guidance for supporting security and justice reform based on analysis and lessons from its own experience and that of other practitioners. These are developed based on needs and gaps, and complement guidance from other sources. ISSAT’s current available methodologies include assessments, reviews and evaluations, supporting defence transformation processes and how to be an effective advisor. These will shortly be augmented by guidance on programme design and how to incorporate public finance management into security and justice reform support.
Development of practical tools
ISSAT develops or adapts tools to assist with the delivery of its support on the ground. These are then refined so they can be adapted to other contexts, and made available on the CoP. Examples include using the McKinsey 7S Framework for assessments; the Capacity, Integration and Sustainability (CIS) Framework; the Effects Estimate; community-based assessments; and 10 tips for police internal oversight. Our Top Ten Programming Tools for Security and Justice Sector Reform is a popular tool in itself.
Lesson learning facilitation
ISSAT systematically carries out After Action Reviews (AARs) after each of its mandates to extract lessons, challenges and innovative practices encountered. These are then analysed and fed back into ISSAT’s approach to AFS, its training material, analysis of trends and challenges and development of guidance. In addition, ISSAT can facilitate lesson learning discussions or workshops for its Governing Board Members, covering both engagements undertaken as ISSAT mandates or and those external to ISSAT.
Trends and challenges map
The breadth and depth of ISSAT’s support to security and justice processes, as well as the range of national and international actors that it assists, provides a great opportunity to build an in-depth understanding of the trends and challenges of supporting security and justice reform. ISSAT has created a map of the current trends and challenges, and a process to update and build upon this as a living document of the current state of security and justice reform. This can feed into supporting Governing Board Members to develop their policies and approaches to assistance, as well as identifying areas to draw lessons and develop new, innovative approaches.