Background Speakers Review Video Clips

Background:

It is generally acknowledged that a vibrant civil society is important for sustainable and meaningful development. Security is often cited as a priority concern by the poorest and most marginalised, and the provision of a safe and secure environment for development is a vital function for governments worldwide. However, there is little substantive discussion or clear meaning behind how civil society actors can influence decisions on security and defence involving the military, police, intelligence services and judiciary. Some would argue that the role of civil society is little understood by the military and defence sectors, which have traditionally been resistant to public input. Others would state that civil society doesn’t have either the necessary expertise or interest needed to provide an informed input into what is a uniquely specialised policy area.

This half-day seminar aimed to address this issue by broadening the parameters of the current debate to explore grassroots civil society perspectives and participatory approaches to the provision of security.

Speakers:

		St.John Gould has been Deputy Head of Conflict Issues Group in the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) since December 2006, where he coordinates strategy and operations on the UK/international response to conflict, particularly in the areas of peacekeeping, peacebuilding and the re-establishment of the rule of law in conflict/post-conflict situations. His career with the FCO and more generally has focused on conflict situations and other aspects of the Middle East and Africa. Previous roles within the FCO include North Africa Analyst, Middle East/North Africa Analyst on loan to the US State Department, First Secretary Political at the British Embassy Washington covering Africa and the Middle East, and Head of the FCO’s Zimbabwe team. Prior to joining the FCO, St.John was a writer and consultant on the Middle East and North Africa, with publications on the Arab-Israel conflict, Middle Eastern geography and the contemporary Maghreb. He studied at graduate and post-graduate level in geography at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.
		Dr Vanessa Farr is the Senior Gender Advisor at UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR), where she focuses on how gender impacts individual experiences of crisis. She will explore: the concept of ‘community security’ and why it may mean different things to people of different age, sex, race, ethnicity and location; How women can be better included in community-based security decision-making processes; and current global initiatives and recent advances made in including gender equality into the debate on community security. Vanessa will reflect upon her own experiences in the field where women have been excluded from community security issues and discussing what the BCPR are currently doing to address this imbalance.
		Haki Abazi is Program Officer for the Western Balkan Section of the Rockefeller Brothers Funds’ Pivotal Place Program and previously served as Director of the Kosovo Office for East West Institute Inc. Haki has developed and implemented a wide-range of programs addressing critical issues in Kosovo during the negotiation process for the final status settlement. He has played an important role in the development of the civil society initiatives in Kosovo and is currently a member of the Committee for the Development of Civil Society in Kosovo. Haki will using his experience in Kosovo to explore: the role that civil society can play in post-conflict and transitional communities; how participatory processes can help capture people’s own perceptions of security; the process of building trust between people and state in fragile security environments and the impacts of international donor interventions on local ownership in fragile security environments.
		Marina Caparini is a Senior Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). She works on issues of accountability and oversight in security sector governance and focuses on civil-military relations, civil society and media engagement with the security domain, the privatisation of security functions, and internal security services. Marina has edited DCAF’s book, ‘Civil Society and the Security Sector: Concepts and Practices in New Democracies’, and has authored several articles exploring the role of civil society actors in defence and security affairs. She will be using her experience at DCAF, whose primary mission is the study and facilitation of security sector reform, to explore: the role of civil society in oversight and good governance of the security sector; the issue of 'local ownership' and why it is increasingly emphasised in security sector reform programmes; and the link between media, democracy and civil society in security governance.

Review:

This GFN-SSR organised event proved to be a great success with a near full attendance of over fifty people. The panel spoke on topics including the need for SSR to focus on people’s needs, gender issues, the impact of SSR in Kosovo and Afghanistan, and accountability and oversight. All were well received, prompting a strong question-and-answer session during which a number of practitioners where able to talk about their own activities as well as question the speakers.

St John provided some pointers on the role of civil society in security and highlighted the British Government’s experience in working with civil society in security-related programmes. The British Government views civil society as a key partner in shaping and delivering security, but is some way from developing the kinds of relationships they need with civil society.

Marina Caparini provided an overview of the role of civil society in shaping security policy. She explored the specific roles that civil society can play, discussed the key issue of local ownership, and provided some specific recommendations on how civil society and donors can engage more effectively. She explained how post cold war perspectives of security have broadened towards a more inclusive human security based approach. Local ownership is vital for any reforms to be considered legitimate. However, in practice, SSR has focussed on state institutions.

In order to engage more effectively, civil society needs to develop relations with allies within the state and develop a level of expertise to be taken seriously by decision makers. Civil society organisations engaged in SSR also have to work at creating effective security networks - there are many overlapping interests with Human Rights organisations, but as of yet little cooperation.

Haki Abazi reflected on his experiences in Kosovo, Indonesia and Afghanistan to explore the role of civil society on a local, regional and global level.

The role of civil society in a given environment changes over differing stages in social development. For example, civil society can play a critical role in post-conflict situations where the government often has limited capability to plan and implement policy.

International donors can often disrupt local dynamics by imposing their own external agendas and creating a gap between citizens and the very organisations that are meant to represent their interests. This is especially detrimental because citizen participation is critical to the successful delivery of security; without ownership, legitimacy and trust, any SSR effort will ultimately be unsuccessful.

Post-9/11, there has been an increased militarisation of international development work of which civil society has largely failed to be critical.

Vanessa Farr’s talk highlighted the need for a good gender analysis in the planning and delivery of security. She argued that decision-makers and practitioners need to recognise the multiple layers of people and their corresponding security needs. In particular, women are often excluded from decision-making processes and are unlikely to be found in positions of authority.

She explained that the term ‘vulnerability’ needs unpacking and is often misused by practitioners and policy-makers. Vulnerability is multi-layered, a fact which is often overlooked in the delivery of security. Dealing with difference is a major challenge for SSR, which involves accounting for the different security needs of differing sections of society on the basis of gender, ethnicity, urban/rural location, disability, religion and class. Ultimately, SSR programmes need to find common ground between differing sections of society and find out what will make them all safe.

Video Clips:

Haki Abazi

"How the role of civil society changes in different situations"
"Role of civil society in security in a global context"
"Why citizen participation is critical"
Complete Video

Marina Caprini

"Definition of civil society in context of security"
"Issues of local ownership"
"Suggestions of civil society organisations and donors"
Complete Video

St John Gould

"The Role of Civil Society"
"HMG's experience - examples of work with civil society"
Complete Video

Vanessa Farr

"How the role of civil society changes in different situations"
"Unpacking the term 'vulnerability' - what does it mean?"
"Dealing with difference - a multi-layered view of vulnerability"
"Tools for progressing the agenda"
Complete Video

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