Western Balkans: Civil Society Capacity Building to Map and Monitor SSR
The 'Civil Society Capacity Building to Map and Monitor Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans' project is a three year endeavour that was launched in February 2009. The project contributes to fostering the capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to oversee, measure, and map security sector governance processes at the domestic level in the Western Balkans. Through a series of capacity building events, civil society representatives familiarize themselves with security sector mapping techniques.
The consortium partners are:
Analytica: www.analyticamk.org
Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP): www.ccmr-bg.org
Center for Security Studies (CSS): www.css.ba
Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM): www.cedem.me
Institute for International Relations (IMO): www.imo.hr
Kosovo Centre for Security Studies (KCSS): www.qkss.org
Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM): www.idmalbania.org
The project's capacity building events are designed for the representatives of the CSOs in the consortium. The project publications are intended to provide parliamentarians, parliamentary staff, government officials, and academics with up-to-date information on SSR progress in the Western Balkans.
The key project objectives are:
- to foster the capacity and knowledge of civil society organizations to oversee national security sector governance processes;
- to further support the development of a comprehensive methodology that will allow CSOs to measure, map and, subsequently, monitor security sector reform processes in the Western Balkans;
- to promote cooperation between regional civil society actors and improve the transparency of SSR processes in neighboring countries.
The project builds on the original mapping methodology developed by the BCSP during its forerunner project entitled 'Mapping and Monitoring of the Security Sector of the Republic of Serbia', which was implemented between 2007 and 2009. The capacity building events consist of a combination of presentations, working groups, and practical exercises using material from research papers produced by the consortium partners in the context of the project. The events also aim to familiarize the CSOs' representatives with qualitative and quantitative research methods, much needed in their daily work.
The Almanac on Security Sector Oversight in the Western Balkans was launched in March 2012 by a consortium of regional civil society organizations and supported by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). The Almanac presents research carried out by the participating civil society organizations in the project, with the purpose of fostering the knowledge of civil society in overseeing, measuring and mapping national security processes in the Western Balkans.
The English version of the Almanac is available in hard copy upon request. Translations in local languages are forthcoming.
The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
