02/21/2007

Contact: Erin Weir
ri@refintl.org or 202-828-0110

Refugees International sent the following statement to the UN Security Council on February 16, 2007. For the last week, the Security Council has been discussing an initiative proposed by the Government of Slovakia to establish a coordinated UN approach to security sector reform; an important step towards the sustainable protection of civilians from conflict and violence.

Displacement is often the product of violence and instability, which itself may be the result of weak or corrupted security institutions. Security, as well as the perception of security, is essential for the return of displaced populations to their homes. It is only through an effective, trusted security sector that individual security can be achieved. Refugees International applauds and supports the Government of Slovakia's initiative, highlighting the need for a comprehensive, coherent and coordinated UN approach to security sector reform during its tenure as Security Council President, and urges an increased focus on protection of civilians throughout the policy development process.

The "security sector" of a state dictates, manages, and executes both military security and civilian protection policies. However, many security sector reform efforts have focused primarily on the military side. While the security sector includes core bodies such as the military, police, border guards, customs agents, and other state-sanctioned armed groups, it also encompasses key providers of civilian protection such as lawmakers, human rights agencies, and the judicial system. In a country disrupted by war, many of these important structures have been disrupted, if not destroyed. Security sector reform (SSR) is an essential component of post-conflict reconstruction and development because without a legitimate, functioning security sector, economic and social development cannot move forward.

Regenerating and strengthening of the security sector post-conflict have been issues of UN concern for some time. Modern integrated UN peacekeeping missions incorporate military, political, humanitarian and development actors. Like the more traditional peacekeeping missions, these multidimensional missions still fulfill short-term stabilization and protection duties. But today peacekeepers are also expected to lay the ground work for long-term development and a self-sustaining peace. The weak or corrupted security institutions that make peacekeeping necessary in the first place must be developed into strong, accountable institutions that protect civilians, ensure stability, and create the necessary conditions for lasting peace, security, and rule of law.

Security sector reform is a complex effort that involves high-level policy making, multi-institutional coordination, and the recruitment and training of security forces. The UN integrated peacekeeping structure is potentially well suited to accommodate a comprehensive, coherent, and coordinated approach to SSR. Making SSR planning an integral part of these missions will increase the likelihood that it is addressed throughout the entire lifecycle of the peacebuilding effort. The development of a comprehensive SSR strategy, and the incorporation of that strategy into the existing integrated mission structure, will help the UN to ensure that donor resources for SSR, including funds and expertise, contribute to the comprehensive peacebuilding effort.

In the spirit of welcoming your attention to security sector reform, Refugees International offers the following recommendations to inform your deliberations:

Focus on Civilian Protection:
First and foremost, it is essential that any UN-wide policy on SSR emphasize the need for state security objectives to reflect an overarching civilian protection focus. Protection of civilians is a key component of the actions of all the United Nations agencies and must therefore be the overarching imperative that informs all efforts at security sector reform. Of particular concern are disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs. Too often, the focus has been on the military task of demobilizing and disarming with insufficient attention paid to reintegration, which is the true key to success. All members of the UN country team should be involved in ensuring that former combatants, both male and female, child and adult, are reintegrated successfully back into their community.

Strengthen Civilian Oversight and Management:
In order to ensure that civilian protection remains the focus of a reformed, renewed security sector, it is essential that the UN devote attention to the development of capable civilian oversight mechanisms. Recruitment and training are important, but not sufficient. Even the most disciplined, well equipped security force may become a threat to civilian safety in the absence of accountability, good strategic planning and effective oversight. For example, between 2000 and 2004 the Haitian National Police, created by UN programs in the 1990s, became notoriously corrupt due to lack of effective civilian government oversight and degenerated into a force more likely to traumatize than protect the population.

Mainstream Gender throughout all Efforts:
It is imperative that the UN-wide SSR policies take into account Security Council Resolution 1325 and mainstream a gendered perspective throughout the SSR policy framework. Men and women experience insecurity in different ways. Gender-based violence is rampant in many of the countries where UN peacekeepers have been deployed. Sexual exploitation and abuse, the use of rape as a systematic weapon, economic disparities, and, often, prevailing social norms, conspire to make women more vulnerable than men in both conflict and post-conflict environments. Effective security sector reform must ensure that the particular needs of women are taken into account at every stage of the process, including demobilization and disarmament, recruitment of police and military forces, and the training of staff. There must also be a concerted effort to recruit women into the security sector as police and soldiers, as well as in senior management and policy making positions. For countries like Liberia, where over 60% of women experienced gender-based violence, rebuilding a security sector that women can trust is essential. By mainstreaming gender into the full spectrum of SSR initiatives, the UN will create security forces that are properly equipped to combat gender-based violence, promote the participation of women in their own security, and build safer, more equitable communities.

Increase Public Information:
In the security domain, perception can be just as important as the actual capabilities and actions of the security forces. In a country emerging from violent conflict, traumatized citizens are likely to be skeptical of anyone claiming authority. In many of these societies the security forces were corrupt, ineffective, and often a threat to civilians, even before hostilities erupted. All UN-led security sector reform efforts should emphasize public information campaigns to familiarize citizens with the changes underway in their security forces, and to make them aware of what they should reasonably expect from the men and women who have been designated their protectors.

Ensure Sustainable Funding:
Security sector reform is a lengthy and costly enterprise. Successful SSR programs can take seven years or longer to create local capacity that is both effective and self-sustaining, much longer than most donor funding cycles. But to embark upon an under-funded SSR program creates a poorly trained, under-paid, and under-equipped security sector that may resort to corruption and civilian abuse. For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Refugees International has documented the ways in which the FARDC, the new Congolese national army, is a serious threat to civilians. Despite a UN-led re-training process designed to create a professional defense force, the FARDC, an amalgamation of former rebels and government troops, is undisciplined and underpaid. Troops are frequently abandoned by their commanders and forced to live off the backs of the civilian population, resulting in harassment, theft, displacement, and brutal rape and abuse. The UN security sector reform policy planning process must conceptualize SSR as a long-term engagement and investment, not merely an exit strategy to be tacked temporarily on to the end of a peace operation.

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