AFRICA

On behalf of the UN Inter-Agency SSR Task Force, the SSR Unit in DPKO requested ISSAT’s support for the facilitation of the AU-UN SSR Orientation Workshop on SSR, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa.

The workshop was targeted at the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Committee on Cooperation, International Relations and Conflict Resolution.

In order to further support the development of the AU  approach to SSR, this 3 day workshop aimed to:

• Introduce participants to key concepts in SSR, as well as the emerging AU and UN approaches to SSR;
• Provide an opportunity for the PAP, together with staff from the AU and the UN to contribute to the development of a comprehensive AU policy framework on SSR, which would form a key building block for further development of the UN approach to SSR; and,
• Contribute to the development of an effective PAP-AU-UN partnership in the area of SSR.

ISSAT personnel assisted in facilitating a number of sessions and practical exercises based on country examples.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has requested ISSAT support for a training/workshop on Development, Justice and Security Sector Reform (JSSR) to be organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB) for its personnel.

The 3 day training aimed to build capacity within the African Development Bank and to gain a better understanding of JSSR and its role in helping to create a conducive environment for broader, long-term development.

The main objective was to offer an overview of the key JSSR policies, principles and actors. The course also dealt with the highly political nature of JSSR, highlight some of its key challenges on the ground and propose some solutions. Key topics covered included: Introduction to the concept of JSSR; mapping the justice and security sector; Gender and SSR; programming for SSR in fragile and post-conflict states, and the role of non-state actors in JSSR.

On behalf of the UN Inter-Agency SSR Task Force, the SSR Unit in DPKO requested ISSAT’s support for the facilitation of the upcoming AU-UN SSR Orientation and AU SSR Policy Development Workshop.

The workshop brought together senior government officials from SADC Member States, representatives from the SADC Secretariat, AU staff based in Addis Ababa, senior UN officials based in the SADC region, who were working in the area of SSR, and world-renown senior SSR practitioners, as additional expert resources for participants.

In order to further support the development of the AU SSR policy framework, and following the success of both the 2009 AU-UN “Addis” and the 2010 “Ghana” SSR Orientation and Policy Development workshops, the AU and UN intended to conduct another event in the Southern African Development Community. The event had the following objectives:

• Introduce participants to key concepts in SSR, as well as the emerging African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) approaches to SSR;
• Provide an opportunity for participants from SADC Member States, together with staff from the AU, SADC Secretariat and the UN to contribute to the development of a comprehensive AU policy framework on SSR, which would form a key building block for further development of the UN approach to SSR; and,
• Contribute to the development of an effective SADC-AU-UN partnership in the area of SSR.

ISSAT personnel assisted in facilitating a number of sessions and practical exercises based on country examples. 

Within the framework of the AU-UN strategic partnership on SSR, the UN SSR Unit supported the AU with a technical review meeting held in Addis Ababa to review the zero draft of the AU SSR policy paper.   

Building on ISSAT’s earlier support to the AU-UN strategic partnership, the UN SSR Unit requested ISSAT to participate in and contribute its experience to the event. ISSAT participated in a three-day consultative meeting on the draft SSR Policy paper which took place at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from May 17th till May 19th 2010.   

The African Union requested assistance from DPKO’s SSR Unit to run a 2-day SSR orientation workshop for its personnel. DPKO’s SSR Unit, on behalf of the SSR Task Force, followed up with a request to ISSAT to support the design and roll-out of this training course at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. 

The training programme aimed to develop the AU’s capacity on SSR and targeted middle- and senior-level personnel working on SSR and related issues within the AU secretariat, field missions and permanent observer offices. Key objectives of the training included:

• To increase participants’ awareness and understanding of security sector reform (SSR), as well as both the African Union and the United Nations emerging approaches to SSR.
• To articulate challenges, lessons learned and requirements for the African Union’s support in the area of SSR.
• To identify potential principles for SSR inAfrica, which could be used in the further development of an African Union approach to SSR.
• To enhance the African Union’s capacity to “deliver as one” effective and holistic SSR support to sub-regional organizations and national authorities.
• To begin the process of developing a SSR Community of Practice within the African Union by promoting active membership across the Organisation.