Support to AU-UN SSR Orientation and AU SSR Policy Development Workshop

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.