DCAF Parliamentary Staff Advisers Programme in Southeast Europe
Launched in 2004, the DCAF Parliamentary Staff Advisors Programme supported parliaments in strengthening their in-house expertise on security and defence. The programme trained parliamentary staff and thereby contributed to the enhancement of their capacity to provide expert advice to Members of Parliament overseeing the security sector.
The target audience is parliamentary staff connected to Security and Defence Committees, Foreign Affairs Committees and European Affairs Committees in countries in Southeast Europe. The programme included a group of 20 Parliamentary Staff Advisors working in 10 parliaments in Southeast Europe.
The programme's main objectives were:
- to create a network linking Parliamentary Staff Advisors in Southeast Europe in order to foster regional security dialogue in South Eastern Europe;
- to build institutional capacity in parliaments in South Eastern Europe by raising awareness about the importance of in-house security and defence expertise;
- to develop the research, analytical and communication skills of Parliamentary Staff Advisors in the project.
Training sessions were conceived as a platform to allow for the exchange of ideas and debates on regional security in Southeast Europe. They included lectures, panel discussions, work in small groups and interactive exercises (i.e., simulation exercises, scenario planning exercises). The training sessions equally aimed at enhancing the research, analytical and communication skills of participating Parliamentary Staff Advisors, as part of an individual capacity-building module.
The project was funded in part by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
