Katana VentraIP

Security sector governance and reform

The concepts of security sector governance and reform (SSG/R, or SSG and SSR) generally refer to a process in Western-based international development and democratization to amend the security sector of a state towards good governance and its principles, such as freedom of information and the rule of law.[1][2]

The objective of security sector reform (SSR) is to achieve good security sector governance (SSG)—where security actors are effective and accountable to their people. For example, SSR might guide decision-making on what form should the oversight of armed forces take or how transparent will intelligence agencies be according to legislation.[3] Different nomenclature of the same overall framework include security system reform (SSR), security sector reconstruction (SSR) and justice and security sector reform (JSSR).[4]

History[edit]

In 1994, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) adopted a Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security stating that the democratic control of the security sector as essential to stability.[5]


The framework emerged after Saferworld staff observed from examples in South Africa, Indonesia and countries in Eastern Europe that national security and its components were considered crucial in a state recovering from conflict or an authoritarian regime. On 13 May 1998, Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development, used the term for the first time, publicly, during a speech at the Royal College of Defence Studies.[6] Reportedly, the increasing number of civil wars led development actors to look at the problem of insecurity from the perspective of good governance. The conclusion was that the security sector should adhere to the same rules of good governance as any other public service to curb conflict and violence.[4][7][8]


In 2014, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted its first stand-alone resolution on SSR and within it the role of security sector reform in stabilizing post-conflict countries.[9][10]

Core security actors, such as armed forces, police, gendarmerie, border guards, customs and immigration, and intelligence and security services;

security management and oversight bodies, such as ministries of defence and internal affairs, financial management bodies and public complaints commissions;

justice and law enforcement institutions, such as the judiciary, prisons, prosecution services, traditional justice systems; and

non-statutory security forces, such as , guerilla armies, and private bodyguards.[14][16][7]

private security companies

There is no single globally accepted definition of security sector reform (SSR), but it generally refers to a process to reform or rebuild a state's security sector towards good security sector governance (SSG).[11][12] Good SSG is usually defined as a number of idealized principles and good practices of a healthy security sector servicing its people. Likewise, the objective of SSR is defined as the application of the same principles of good governance to the security sector as to any other public sector service delivery, such as public health or education.[1][2][13] For example, the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has defined four standards that SSR should strive for:


The target of SSR are the components of the state that uphold national security. Although the security sector is therefore a wide term open to interpretation, it is generally used to describe the structures, institutions and personnel responsible for the management, provision and oversight of security in a certain country.[15] Therefore, the scope and target of SSR has usually been defined comprising the following four groups:

Bastick, M.; Valasek, K. (2008). . Geneva: DCAF. ISBN 978-92-9222-074-7. Archived from the original on 2013-06-02.

Gender and Security Sector Reform Toolkit

Ebo, A.; Hänggi, H. (2020). . Zurich: LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-643-80311-5.

The United Nations and Security Sector Reform: Policy and Practice

Hänggi, H.; Bryden, A. (2004). . Geneva: DCAF. ISBN 978-3-8258-7770-5.

Reform and Reconstruction of the Security Sector

Hänggi, H.; Bryden, A. (2005). . Geneva: DCAF. ISBN 978-3-8258-9019-3. Archived from the original on 2017-07-23. Retrieved 2012-08-27.

Security Governance in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding

Lalá, A.; Fitz-Gerald, A. (2003). (PDF). Shrivenham, UK: GFN-SSR. ISBN 978-0-9546500-0-1.

Providing Security for the People: Security Sector Reform in Africa

Scnabel, A.; Ehrhardt, H. (2006). (PDF). Tokyo: United Nations University Press. ISBN 978-92-808-1109-4.

Security Sector Reform and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding

Articles, papers and guidelines

African Security Sector Network (ASSN)

Centre for Security Governance (CSG)

Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA)

Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)

International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)

Justice Coopération Internationale (JCI)

Marsad - the Egyptian security sector observatory

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

United Nations (UN) Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)