Background to the programme
It is becoming increasingly apparent that insecurity, injustice, crime and violence do not recognise national boundaries and represent a global challenge to citizen security and the rule of law. These challenges are often compounded by outbreaks of conflict, fragile and weak governance systems and by the need for national security and development reforms.
The international response to these challenges has been to deploy increasing numbers of police officers and assistance teams as part of operational, technical or organisational capacity building initiatives to countries affected by conflict and fragility either within an EU framework, as part of a UN peacekeeping mission or as a unilateral or bilateral assistance program.
Experts with specific qualifications and skill sets are increasingly needed as police organisations are called on to assist with international obligations. However, when a police organisation is called upon to provide a senior Police advisor for a multinational assessment or complex fact-finding mission, suitably skilled and experienced people with a broad understanding of development and security sector reform issues to complement their policing expertise are not always readily available.
Whilst many countries have designed and delivered specific training programs to prepare police officers for participation in peacekeeping missions, there are far fewer opportunities to prepare police experts to act as advisors and mentors to reform initiatives in post-conflict and transitional, organisational development contexts. A good advisor/expert requires a different set of skills, attitude and level of knowledge from those needed for traditional and narrowly defined peacekeeping deployments.
Guiding concepts
An important starting point for the Masterclass is the concept of Security Sector Reform (SSR).
In most countries, security and justice are delivered by a large number of actors. SSR aims to enhance both the security of people and the governance of the security sector, promoting good delivery of security and justice services, under democratic oversight and control. Statutory security services, executive/civil management bodies, legislative and justice institutions, civil society, non-statutory armed formations, independent oversight agencies and external actors all play a role in the sector.
Due to the linkages between the various actors, projects that target one area of the security sector, for example policing, need to always consider the impact on related areas; otherwise the success of reform efforts could be limited or even have a harmful effect.
Policy cornerstones of the Masterclass approach to SSR include the UN (2014) Policy on Police in UN Peacekeeping
- and Political Missions
, the UN Secretary General’s Reports on SSR
, as well as the OECD DAC Handbook on Security System Reform
. In all these documents, a clear approach to supporting reform is articulated. Key elements of this SSR approach are: holistic, integrated, focused, tailored, locally-owned, prioritised, monitored and evaluated.
The Masterclass does not just focus on SSR in peacekeeping environments but will also look at international development and other police assistance contexts, be they operational, organisational or individual. You will not only be introduced to conceptual frameworks but will also have access to tools, techniques, skills and approaches, including consideration of appropriate attitudes and behaviours for those involved.
The Masterclass has three distinct phases, each of which is explained in this handbook. First is a Distance Learning Module, which leads you through several steps before you attend the two-week Residential Module and finally, as an alumni of the Masterclass you will be encouraged to undertake several Follow-on Actions that will help you to implement your learning.