Norway

The Norwegian and Irish governments requested ISSAT’s support in the organisation of a Security Sector Reform training for civil society organisations in Timor Leste. In collaboration with a local partner -Fundasaun Mahein - ISSAT conducted a three-day training programme in Dili, Timor Leste in late September. The training brought together civil society representatives from Timor Leste and the broader South-East Asian region.

Overall objectives of the training programme included:

• Increased SSR capacity for civil society organisations;
• Dialogue and discussion among various civil society actors;
• Greater understanding on the purpose, goal, processes and principles of SSR.

The target audience for the training were Timorese civil society organisations and personnel with direct and indirect involvement in security sector development.

Norway and Sweden have requested ISSAT support to carry out an SSR Assessment in Liberia with a view to providing  recommendations on how these two countries can best contribute to the SSR process in Liberia. 

The assessment focused on two key aspects:

1. Potential areas/sectors for Swedish/Norwegian support.
2. Funding mechanism s in place that could potentially be used by Norway and Sweden to support Liberia’s SSR efforts.

To address these two issues, ISSAT considered the following sub-questions:

1. What are the challenges and opportunities for SSR in the short term (2012-13), medium term (next 5 years) and long term (10-15 years)?
2. To what extent are current donor engagements, including Norway’s and Sweden’s, addressing the above challenges and opportunities?
3. How can additional support complement and strengthen ongoing initiatives?
4. Are the funding mechanisms in place in Liberia efficient, and do the activities they support sufficiently address the Liberian people’s needs for access to security and justice?
5. How can the joint collaboration between Norway and Sweden in SSR bring about synergies and maximize resources/results?