Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

A preliminary internal review of Dutch support to security sector development in Kosovo (November 2009) recommended to focus further support on the areas of police and justice institutional capacity building. This was supplemented by a specific recommendation to conduct a scoping/programming study on the police and justice sector.

The Netherlands requested ISSAT assistance to undertake a programming mission to help identify concrete needs in the Kosovar judicial and police sectors that lend themselves to programmatic Dutch SSD support, commencing in 2010. The purpose of such support was to assist the process of development within these components of the security sector so that they ultimately would be able to effectively and professionally deliver security and justice to the citizens in a transparent, accountable, fiscally sustainable and democratic manner, without international intervention or substitution. It was critical that support strengthens the activities of EULEX in these areas and was complementary to SSR related activities already undertaken by other donors.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands hosted an Introductory Security Sector Reform (SSR) Training Course from the 24 – 26 August, in the Hague.  The course was carried out in partnership with ISSAT.

Aimed at a broad, whole-of-government audience, the course included participants from different backgrounds (e.g. Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Development Agencies), and was particularly aimed at those holding middle management or desk-officer level positions with special responsibility on SSR issues. 

The Netherlands has requested ISSAT to support them in the running of a 2 day SSR Workshop in Kinshasa, DRC. The general objectives of the SSR workshop were threefold:

• To create a better understanding among the embassy staff and several donors about SSR (the key concepts, actors and principles) and of its political nature and the challenges faced when supporting SSR processes in conflict affected areas and fragile states;
• To equip the embassy and several donors with a set of basic operational and practical skills required to undertake SSR assessments and to engage in SSR programme design, if possible applying a whole-of-government approach;
• To facilitate discussions among the donors about their experiences (successes, failures, challenges and lessons learned) with activities in the field of SSR and, in doing so, strengthening the cooperation between the embassy and external partners

Participants included members of the International Community working in DRC (Embassy staffs, UN, NGO etc).

The l’Ecole de Maintien de la Paix Alioune Blondin Beye, ran a PSO/SSR/ToT Training Course from 15-26 August 2011 in Bamako, Mali. This course was carried out in close collaboration with the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT) of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). 

The training focused on mid-level officers. In the military that would include the following ranks: major, lieutenant colonel and colonel. Civilians from international, regional and national organisations and local and police members of an equivalent level were included as well. The participants covered professionals involved in planning and implementing SSR programmes in PSO.  

The two week training brought together approximately 25 participants, with training experience, from various African countries (mainly Western Africa). The first week of the course focused on topics such as Concepts of SSR, Gender, Mapping the security sector, SSR programming, Post-conflict SSR, Role of non-state actors and Coordination. The main goal of the first week was to familiarize the participants with the topic of SSR as well as SSR in relation to the environment of Peace Support Operations. The second week focused on training the trainers on delivering capacity building exercises involving SSR issues, by using exercises based on the previous week.

The Rwandan Military and Police authorities approached the Dutch Embassy with the request to reinforce their training capability for Peace Keeping operations, both through transfer of training skills as well as through the provision of training equipment for use in the Military and Police Academies as well as materiel for the training ground of the Rwandan National Police.

The objective was to formulate a single comprehensive project proposal, which combines the various peacekeeping related requests, for funding by the Dutch Stabilisation Fund.

ISSAT provided one advisor to undertake a scoping study as part of a Dutch team to review the feasibility of the three different possible support areas:

• Continued training in LOAC, ethics and military legal advice with the specific aim to gradually transfer training skills for these subjects to Rwandan trainers;
• To provide the newly established Peace Academy as well as the planned new Police Academy with furniture, IT and audio-visual equipment to facilitate training;
• To provide the RNP with materiel and equipment for their field-training site in order to better prepare for the field conditions in conflict zones where the police will be deployed.

Over the past 20 years multiple (bilateral) activities have been set up between the Netherlands and Indonesia. The Netherlands is now looking at a new, more comprehensive Security and Justice approach for Indonesia. Following the evaluation of the bilateral cooperation programmes carried out with ISSAT support in June and July 2012, the Netherlands  requested ISSAT support in the process to identify future programmes in the legal sector. 

ISSAT will provide one or two experts to support the Netherlands as follows:

• Presentation and lead discussion ISSAT report “Netherlands Assistance to the Justice Sector of Indonesia” September 17 to interviewees in The Hague.
• Provide input for setting-up Visioning exercise Security, Stability and Justice - 2 October 2012.
• Observation during Vision exercise and co-writing of concept note with main findings in corporation with DSH-SR and the Netherlands embassy Jakarta (lead writing of concept note).
• Participation in a validation exercise for security, stability and justice programme for continued Dutch involvement in Indonesia. 10 – 16 December 2012 (date to be confirmed).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands hosted an Introductory Security Sector Reform (SSR) Training Course during the 8 and 9 of November 2012, in the Hague.  The course was carried out in partnership with DCAF/ISSAT.

Aimed at MFA employees involved and/ or interested in SSR issues, the course included participants working at different locations and on different topics, some experienced in SSR, some not. It was particularly aimed at desk-officer level positions with special responsibility for SSR issues. 

The main objective of this 2 days training course was to offer an overview of the key SSR policies, principles and actors and practices. The course also dealt with the highly political nature of SSR, highlighted some of its key challenges on the ground and proposed some solutions. Key topics covered included: introduction to SSR policies, principles and actors; SSR in different contexts; who’s who in the security sector; oversight and accountability; coordinating SSR programmes etc. Through an interactive and practical approach the training will use concrete case studies to apply concepts to practice. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands hosted an Introductory Security Sector Reform (SSR) Training Course during the 8 and 9 of November 2012, in the Hague.  The course was carried out in partnership with DCAF/ISSAT. 

Aimed at (MFA employees involved and/ or interested in SSR issues), the course will include participants working at different locations and on different topics, some experienced in SSR, some not. It is particularly aimed at desk-officer level positions with special responsibility on SSR issues.

Over the past 20 years multiple (bilateral) activities have been set up between the Netherlands and Indonesia. The Netherlands is now looking at a new, more comprehensive Security and Justice approach for Indonesia, and as such has requested ISSAT support to carry out an evaluation of the bilateral cooperation programmes (including the relevant MOUs concluded between Indonesia and the Netherlands) over the past 5 years with the aim to incorporate the lessons learned in the new programme. 

ISSAT will send a team of 2 experts to support the Netherlands as follows:

• Analysis of the different MOU’s, their implementation or possibly, the reasons for a lack of implementation;
• A description and analysis of the results of previous cooperation programs via project files/documents and meetings with relevant stakeholders, varying from implementing organizations in the Netherlands and Indonesia to donor agencies active in the legal field in Indonesia;

The formulation of an outline for future legal cooperation -in which priorities, added value of Dutch support, issues of coherence and an effective implementation structure are clarified and/or addressed- is an integral part of the final report. 

The Government of the Netherlands requested the assistance of ISSAT to support their Baseline Study of the Security Sector in Burundi as part of the Netherlands-Burundian Security Sector Development (SSD) Programme. ISSAT was requested to provide a military specialist with knowledge of the security/SSR context in Burundi.

Burundi and the Netherlands have cooperated on security sector development issues since 2004, which was formalised through the signing of a long term Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). As part of the MoU, the Netherlands and Burundi agreed to execute a baseline study of the security sector, to be undertaken by independent experts in the field of SSD, in close cooperation with Burundian and Dutch representatives.

The baseline assessment served two purposes:

1. To improve the understanding of the real and perceived of security needs, from an individual, institutional and political perspective. The study should also at the implications this will have for security provision, potential risks and challenges.
2. To provide a basis against which the results of the Dutch-BurundianSSDprogramme can be evaluated on an annual basis as well as at the end of the programme, and against which future activities can take shape.

The Government of the Netherlands requested ISSAT assistance to support their Scoping Mission for the Netherlands-Burundian support to Burundian Parliamentary Oversight over Security and Defence. This is a follow-on to the previous request for assistance for the baseline study. ISSAT was requested to provide an expert with knowledge of ethnicity and the security/SSR context in Burundi.

In addition to the ongoing baseline study, the Netherlands came up with a number of quick win/confidence building projects to be implemented between 2009 and 2010. The proposals included responding to the request to provide technical assistance from the Parliament, the Civil Society and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by:

• Supporting the Parliament in holding a hearing on the issues of ethnic balance within with security services;
• Organising a seminar for civil society on civil involvement in/oversight of the security forces;
• Organising a seminar on SSR for the Burundian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to assist their role as coordinators of the national SSR process.  

The Netherlands-Burundi cooperation was captured in a Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed in 2009. This MoU served as an umbrella for Netherlands-Burundi Security Sector Development Programme (SSDP) - which included 3 pillars: Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Defence and Security Sector Governance, for a period of eight years (2009-2017). This period was divided into four phases, each lasting two years. A strategic plan was developed for each phase. The programme was currently concluding phase I, with phase II officially commencing on I January 2012.

The overall objective of the mission was to assist the Netherlands Embassy in Burundi to evaluate the impact and results of Phase I of the Security Sector Development Programme. This included an analysis of the efficiency of the project implementation structures. The secondary objective of the mission was to assess the project design and relevance of Phase I of the SSDP. This assessment will be done to provide recommendations on any necessary amendments or alterations to the project. Such recommendations would reflect contemporary field conditions and lessons learned from Phase I.

The mission was divided into three parts – which would reflect the original SSD design: support to police reform, support to the reform of the army reform, an evaluation of the programme structure and coherence with SSR processes.

The Netherlands-Burundian cooperation was captured in a Memorandum of Understanding, signed in 2009. This MoU serves as an umbrella for the Netherlands-Burundian Security Sector Development programme that has 3 pillars: Ministry of Public Security (incl. the Burundi National Police), Ministry of Defence (incl. the Burundi Defence Forces) and Security Sector Governance and that covers a period of eight years (2009-2017). The programme was currently entering it phase II, for which strategic action plans are being developed. 

The Dutch Embassy Office in Burundi sought advisory field and training support from ISSAT to run two trainings for military and police officers who were responsible to draft the strategic plans of the military and the police. The objective of the two trainings was to ensure that the participants understood the concept of SSD and its main principles, and that they would be able to apply the SSD principles in their daily activities, particularly when drafting the strategic plans.

ISSAT supported the Dutch SSD Programme in Burundi to design and implement two 2-day training workshops for the military and the police to achieve these objectives. The two workshop was structured as follows:

D1-1: SSD concept and principles (2 sessions)

D1-2: SSD programming in post-conflict contexts, SSD and gender (2 sessions)

D2-1: Case study (Guinea-Bissau for the military, Kosovo for the police) (2 sessions)

D2-2: SSD-approach to defence/police development, brainstorming on SSD in Burundi (2 sessions)

The participants included 20-25 military officers and around 30 police officers. The military participants included officers in charge to draft the strategic plans on the basis of the National Defence Review; some members of the MoD executive secretariat in charge of drafting the National Defence Review, and some national members of the management unit of the Dutch SSR programme. The police participants included officers in charge of implementing training projects and general staff officers in charge of planning.

The mandate was part of the on-going mentoring support that ISSAT is providing to the Burundi SSD Programme. 

A 1 day seminar for participants of the civ mil exercise Reliable Sword; on basics of SSR.

Target group consists of Captains, Majors, of German and NL brigades, staff of NGOs and MFA of the Netherlands

Train the train course for Army officers who succeeded in completing the UNITAR on line SSR course and who will deliver SSR training to Army officers and civil officials living in the neighbourhood of the Army barracks.

The five-day training will bring together approximately 25 participants from the Dutch government and its partners, NGOs, as well as EU staff from Headquerters and the field. Some representatives from beneficiary countries and/ or multilateral organisations will also attend. The course includes several modules covering topics such as the concept and policy framework of SSR, governance, police and justice reform, defence reform, as well effective advising. Special focus will be paid to the introduction of practical examples through case studies. Interactive co-learning methodologies and simulation exercises that encourage participants to share their own experiences will be used throughout the course.

On June 20^th a meeting will take place under the NL EU presidency that will bring together the two committees of EU member states representatives that deal with development policy (“CODEV”) and with civilian aspects of crisis management (“CivCom”), as well as representatives from the European Commission and the European External Action Service. In total some 70 participants are expected.

The occasion for the meeting is the fact that this Summer the EU will produce two policy documents: one on SSR and one on Capacity Building in support of Security and Development (CBSD – or Train&Equip). The document on SSR has gone through a relatively extensive consultation process with useful discussions on the concept as such and its application by EU instruments. The discussions on CBSD/Train&Equip, however, have been mostly top-down and focused on legal and budgetary issues. For the Netherlands that is cause for concern because train & equip as an approach of course has its risks and pitfalls.

The NL MFA would like to request the support of DCAF/ISSAT to carry out a lesson identification
exercise that examines all aspects of the SSD programme, including what worked well (or not), and to provide advice/recommendations on which (and how) achievements are most likely to be sustained, in the current and continuously changing political and security environment of Burundi. In addition, ISSAT is also asked to identify the lessons that can be extracted for future SSD support in Burundi or elsewhere in the world.

(this process already included a brainstorm session in the Hague at the end of January 2017)

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested the support of ISSAT to organise a 2-day sensitisation briefing on SSR for EU, NATO - with a specific focus on the role of the military. The briefing will take place from 1-2 June in Brussels at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the EU, and bring together approximately 20-30 representatives from the EU, NATO and perhaps some member states - including Dutch ministries.

Through a combination of practical, hands-on exercises, this course will aim to enhance the skills, capacity and strategic thinking of participants on SSR principles through the sharing of views and experiences related to SSR. It will highlight issues such as the principles and characteristics of SSR, enhancing governance and oversight of security and justice institutions, the linkages between justice and police reform and sustainable capacity building.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, together with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organised an advanced training on SSR from 19-23 September 2016 in Tunis, Tunisia. The course brought together 23 civilian and uniformed participants from the French and Dutch administration working in the region or at Headquarters, as well as representatives from the European Union and the United Nations. Participants from beneficiary countries including Tunisia, Lebanon, Burundi, Ivory Coast and the Palestinian authorities also attended the course. The training was carried out by facilitators from the International Security Sector Advisory Team of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF/ ISSAT).

The course was inaugurated by H. E. Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, French Ambassador to Tunisia, and H. E. Eric Strating, Dutch Ambassador to Libya. Both speakers underlined the importance and timeliness of such a training in the region. Indeed, this was the first time that France and the Netherlands organised an SSR training in the Middle East and North Africa region. The training was concluded by H. E. Hans Van Vloten Dissevelt Dutch Ambassador to Tunisia, and Mr. Vincent Larrouze, Deputy Director and Head of the Division for Democratic Governance and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development.

During the training, and through a series of case studies, group work and simulations, participants discussed issues such as good governance, the penal chain, gender and SSR, defence reform, and mentoring and advising. The French and Dutch approaches to SSR, as well as the SSR activities of the International Organisation of the Francophonie were also highlighted. Case studies presented during the course included Mali, Burundi and Libya as well as the SSR activities of the European Union in Tunisia. The diversity and experience of the participants led to rich discussions and experience sharing.

End-course evaluations indicated that 95% of the participants found the course useful. 95% also acknowledged that the training contributed to a better understanding of SSR. Participants praised the interactive methodology of the course and appreciated the sharing of experience by facilitators,  guest speaker and participants. Suggestions for further improvement include greater numbers of concrete case studies and a longer course duration. 

The five-day training will bring together approximately 25 participants from the Dutch government, NGOs, Dutch partners, as well as EU staff from Headquarters and the field. The course includes several modules covering topics such as the concept and the contexts of SSR, governance, police and justice reform, defence reform as well as coordination. Special focus will be paid to the introduction of practical examples through case studies. Interactive co-learning methodologies and simulation exercises that encourage participants to share their own experiences will be used throughout the course.

A morning seminar (08:30-11:30) providing top level principles and frameworks for security and justice sector reform programming. It will focus specifically on defence reform, defence institution capacity building and the military contribution to security and justice sector reform.

Target group: Colonels and above at 1 German-Netherlands Corps (1GNC), as well as civil servant equivalents, and staff of NGOs and civil-society organisations.

The seminar aims to:

• Provide an awareness of the concept of SSR;
• Provide an overview of the policy frameworks of various international organisations;
• Show linkages with peace enforcement, peace-support operations, peace-keeping operations and stabilisation operations;
• Discuss roles of the military within the concept of SSR concept, including at the planning process, and in train and equip endeavours or security force assistance (SFA).

Additional support is provided to the Netherlands input on Thursday 21 May regarding incorporating non-state actors in SSR programming.

One German-Netherlands Corp (1GNC) will hold its civil-military training period "Exercise Common Effort" from 27 June to 1 July. This year's exercise will concentrate on “Libya & the Region”, and on “Migration/Refugees”.

Participants will be divided into the following thematic groups:

• protection of civilians
• SSR
• governance
• humanitarian
• economic/private sector
• strategic/regional 

NOT TO BE APPROVED WITHOUT SMT AUTHORIZATION

ISSAT has been requested by the Dutch MFA to carry out a lessons identification exercise of their SSD programme in Burundi. This programme is in its closing phase (end foreseen by 1 July 2017) and the MFA is looking at obtaining lessons from its experience in Burundi since the start of the SSD programme.

The project will include desk work and interviews in The Hague as well as phone interviews with key stakeholders in Burundi. A mission to Burundi has been refused by the Burundian government due to the political tensions.

The report will be an internal document for the Dutch MFA.

This evaluation mandate, jointly commissioned by the Netherlands, the Government of Burundi and the BNUB, analyses the efforts made by the Burundians and their internationals partners to reform the security and justice sectors since the Arusha Peace Agreement signed in 2000. The main objectives of this evaluation were:

• to provide an overview of the evolution of the reform process from 2000 to 2013;
• to identify the results obtained and the remaining challenges ; and
• to formulate recommendations to the Burundian Government and its international partners in order to improve the SSR process.

To carry out an analysis of the Inspector General of the Police in Burundi in cooperation with the Belgian Police in order to define recommendations on how the organisation, the structure and the functioning of the IG can be improved including defining the prioritised needs of the IG, while taking into account the limited budgetary means of Burundi as a country and its Police.

The Burundian Police agreed on an audit / evaluation of the IG and there was agreement reached that the recommendations of the audit will be taken into account while preparing and executing the 3^rd   and 4^th phase of the SSD program which started mid 2014. 

ISSAT facilitated a one-day meeting on how the international community can more effectively engage with political elites in partner countries in order to promote governance within the security and justice sector reform.

From October 2019 to July 2020, DCAF-ISSAT conducted a “Training Requirements Analysis” (TRA) for the European Union “Civilian Common Security and Defense Policy” (CSDP) missions in partnership with the Swedish Folke Bernadotte Academy and on behalf of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) Executive Academic Board on SSR (EAB-SSR). The final report, endorsed by the EU Coordination Training Group and EU Member States in March 2021, recognizes key gaps and recommendations to EU member states to improve their support to security and justice advisors, including opportunities regarding talent retention and deployment systems.

Access the final report on Training Requirements Analysis for Civilian CSDP Missions by kindly following the link. 

DCAF-ISSAT has been requested by the Dutch MFA to undertake a review of their civilian mission expert pool with the central question to determine experiences, lessons learned and recommendations of the added policy value of the “civilian mission expert pool”.

The review is going to produce recommendations as to how the relevance of the expert pool can be increased in terms of informing policy making, achieving policy objectives and influencing policy implementation.