ISSAT was requested to support UNMIL and UNDP in undertaking an initial needs assessment to understand the institutional and individual needs of the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives in the Liberian Legislature. The aim of the assessment was to identify institutional capacity and resource gaps that impeded the parliament’s ability to fully exercise its oversight, legislative drafting, representation, and agenda-setting role with regard to the Liberian security sector. In parallel, the assessment examined potential windows of opportunity for synergies between: the broader SSR process in Liberia; elements of the Joint Programme for Rule of Law in Liberia; and, the prospective multi-annual UN Legislature capacity-building programme. This needs assessment was the first step in DCAF's assistance to UNMIL and UNDP in designing and implementing this capacity building programme, drawing on the capacities of ISSAT and DCAF’s Sub-Saharan Africa Division (SSAD) to do so.
Mandating organisation / agency / department / ministry
Mandate outputs / products
- A pre-deployment assessment plan outlining a methodology framework.
- Debrief session with relevant UNMIL and UNDP Country Office leadership and management at the end of the fieldwork for the needs assessment.
- Draft needs assessment report after field mission.
- Draft options paper for support to legislative oversight.
Intended immediate outcomes of mandate
Expected results:
- UNMIL and UNDP enhance their ability to organise, with the support of ISSAT, a training program on legislative oversight of the justice and security sectors for the Liberian Parliament;
- Enhanced capability of UNMIL and UNDP staff to implement capacity-building programmes on legislative oversight of the justice and security sectors, including justice and SSR trainings; and,
- Enhanced knowledge and capacity of parliamentary staffers, CSO representatives and security and justice services officers.