Our Director Nathalie Chuard joined the Schuman Security and Defence Forum this week in Brussels for a strategic reflection on trends, issues and initiatives in international security and defence between the EU, its Member States and their partners. DCAF has supported the EU for many years with its initiatives to strengthen its SSG/R initiatives in both policy and practice. At our most recent DCAF Days in Brussels with EU officials we discussed the important role that SSG/R will play in the successful implementation of the EU’s Strategic Compass for Security and Defence.
24 Mar 2023SSG/R was on the agenda of the UN Security Council this week. Alexandre Zouev, Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions of the Department for Peace Operations, outlined the UN’s progress in ensuring security sector reform is a key part of efforts to build peace and sustainable development. That includes a new systemwide UN action plan and the creation of a standing internal unit to provide advice on SSG/R. Promoting women's equal participation is critical to the effort and Zouev announced that DCAF has been engaged to prepare a landmark UN report on the status of women in national defence sectors.
23 Mar 2023In cooperation with NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme we did a train-the-trainer programme on understanding and responding to unethical behaviour for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. By nature of their position as guardians and protectors of the state, representatives of the Ministry are required to uphold impeccable standards in all professional conduct. The training raised ethical dilemmas individuals may face and explored how to respond to behavior such as discrimination, nepotism, and abuse of power. This work was possible thanks to the generous support of the Swiss Government.
23 Mar 2023This week Cristina Finch, the head of our Gender & Security Division, addressed the Organization on Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on how to prevent and address conflict-related sexual violence through security sector reform. It starts with having gender equality as a core value of security sector institutions. Our recommendations also included taking a survivor-led approach with women and girls at the heart of the conversation, and to involve civil society as a partner in this work. “A more gender equal security sector is a more effective one,” said Finch.
22 Mar 2023We were pleased to welcome Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, and his colleagues Oleksandr Kononenko, Olga Strepochenko, and Mariia Ushchapivska to our Geneva office last week. We discussed how Ukraine has adapted to challenging times and what it takes to ensure effective oversight of the security sector amid conflict. At the start of the war against Ukraine we adjusted our longstanding support to the country to be on-call to meet emerging needs. That has included advising on strategic communications regarding war crime investigations and providing evidence-based inputs to a policy debate on the (re)establishment of the military justice system.
20 Mar 2023It's today. A few hours left to register. Join the discussion: #SDGs and #conflictprevention
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