Netherlands

To carry out an analysis of the Inspector General of the Police in Burundi in cooperation with the Belgian Police in order to define recommendations on how the organisation, the structure and the functioning of the IG can be improved including defining the prioritised needs of the IG, while taking into account the limited budgetary means of Burundi as a country and its Police.

The Burundian Police agreed on an audit / evaluation of the IG and there was agreement reached that the recommendations of the audit will be taken into account while preparing and executing the 3^rd   and 4^th phase of the SSD program which started mid 2014. 

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.

The overall objective of the mission was to assist the Netherlands Embassy in Burundi to evaluate the results and impact of Phase I of their Security Sector Development Programme (SSDP). This will include an analysis of the efficiency of the project implementation structures, its design and relevance to its designated beneficiaries.

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.