Introductory Training on Peace Support Operations and SSR

The Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport has requested ISSAT’s support to carry out an introductory training on peace support operations and SSR for the Peace Support Operations Training Centre (PSOTC) in Bosnia Herzegovina. This training is part of the Swiss Government’s 3-year progressive strategy to build PSOTC capacity to conduct SSR trainings. PSOTC trainers will be involved in designing and delivering the training in collaboration with ISSAT’s training team. It is hoped that PSOTC staff will be able to take over and conduct the SSR training at the end of the 3 year strategy. The training will bring together approximately 20 senior level participants essentially from the BiH armed forces, Ministry of foreign affairs and the Ministry of Security as well as civil society representatives including the Centre for Security Studies. Some participants from regional countries are also expected to attend the training.

The course aims to build both SSR knowledge and skills within the framework of Peace Support Operations. Through an interactive and practical training approach, this course will help participants to:

• Better understand the concept and evolution of SSR, including actors, concepts and principles;
• Understand the political nature of SSR and the challenges faced when ‘supporting’ SSR processes in post-conflict contexts;
• Understand synergies and complementarities between peace support operations and SSR;
• Identify the common challenges and opportunities for both PSO and SSR;
• Use concrete cases to build on lessons learned and apply concepts to practice;
• Develop the capacity of PSOTC to enable integration of SSR into PSOTC training curricula.