Programmes

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Professional Development and Training

DCAF develops and provides tailored courses, interactive tools, and capacity building products on security sector governance and reform (SSG/R) to support our international partners. Coming courses are available on this page.

Our tailored courses are multiday training or individual sessions for a multilateral or Interdepartmental audience with a focus on SSG/R, justice reform, preventing violent extremism, defence reform, police reform, international missions, and geographic regions, among others.

Interactive tools include strategic planning case studies, practical learning exercises, and e-learnings in both English and French.

Our capacity-building products range from training requirement assessments to monitoring and evaluation plans and lessons learned reports.

Get a quick overview in our flyer in English and French.

Classroom discussions revealed ‘real-life’ implementation and monitoring challenges that I draw on today when managing expectations on results reporting internally but also externally to our governance body and donors.

Former Participant, SSG/R Course Finland, 2023

Workstreams/Projects

This flagship course provides participants with knowledge and practical tools on SSG/R through:

Sessions on SSG/R, human security, access to justice, gender and inclusivity, and good governance, with a focus on both people-centered and state-centered security
Optional focuses on justice reform, prevention of violence extremism, defense reform, international missions, police reform, and geographic focuses, among others
Incorporating participants’ experiences
Multi-day strategic planning exercise

Example Agenda:

Our course on the prevention of violent extremism provides participants with knowledge and practical tools to better understand:

Drivers of violence extremism - including root causes and triggers – in fragile and development contexts
Security and development nexus, human security, access to justice and community violence reduction

Example Agenda:

Our tailored interdepartmental course brings together governmental, ministerial and/or civil society personnel working on security and justice to:

Share experiences, discuss concrete actions, and make recommendations for a whole of government approach to SSG/R programming in the field
Better understand their role in fostering an integrated approach to SSG/R through enhanced networking and cooperation

This introductory course on SSG/R provides participants with:

Overview of SSG/R, its key principles, actors and contexts within which SSG/R takes place
Insights from experienced practitioners and practical examples
Political and technical aspects of SSG/R
Outlines what is meant by a people-centered and holistic approach to SSG/R

We organize roundtables, workshops, and seminars to share lessons and experiences, input on international conferences, and identify joint ventures with training partners.
We develop new courses on security challenges and work on cross cutting topics such as DDR, youth, and the environment, among others.

Training Requirements Analysis on Security Sector Reform for EU CSDP Missions
DCAF conducted a “Training Requirements Analysis” (TRA) for the European Union “Civilian Common Security and Defense Policy” (CSDP) missions in partnership with the Swedish Folke Bernadotte Academy and on behalf of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) Executive Academic Board on SSR (EAB-SSR).
The final report, endorsed by the EU Coordination Training Group and EU Member States in March 2021, recognizes key gaps and recommendations to EU member states to improve their support to security and justice advisors, including opportunities regarding talent retention and deployment systems.

Maximising the Internal Security Benefits of International Police Missions
While demand for police officers to participate in missions is rapidly growing, the supply of available officers has stagnated or even declined. Several studies suggest that police institutions do not yet fully recognize the internal-external security nexus and maximize the benefits of seconding staff to international missions.
This brief report gives a to-the-point overview of key benefits of participation in international police missions to sending institutions. It also shows what countries do to ensure that police missions both benefit the sending institutions and contribute to security at home. The report highlights good practices that can serve as a foundation for further discussions.

	Marianne Ducasse-Rogier - m.ducasse-rogier@dcaf.ch Head of Professional Development and Training, DCAF's International Security Sector Advisory Team Marianne has a background in international relations/peace and security and more than 20 years of experience working for international organizations, universities or think tanks in different countries. She has been involved in the teaching and training field since 2004 and enjoys combining her thematic expertise with her training and facilitation skills. Prior to joining DCAF in 2022, Marianne worked as a Senior Academy Fellow at The Netherlands Institute of International Relations “Clingendael”, where she contributed to the development of the Academy and managed the diplomatic training portfolio. She also worked inter alia as a guest teacher at Leiden University department of Political Science, as a consultant for IOM, and as an OSCE election supervisor in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Marianne has a Ph. D from the Graduate Institute of international and Development Studies, a DES from the same institute and a diploma from the Institut d’études politiques de Lyon. She speaks French, English and Dutch.

	Shahrazad Chida - s.chida@dcaf.ch SSG/R Advisor, DCAF's International Security Sector Advisory Team Shahrazad has 16 years of experience working on conflict resolution and Rule of Law dynamics in conflict-affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. From 2004 to 2018, she served as a DDR and SSR Officer, as well as political analyst in various United Nations Peacekeeping operations (MINUSMA in Mali, UNOCI in Abidjan, MONUSCO in DRC). She joined DCAF in 2018. Shahrazad holds a MA in International Relations and Political Science from the Université d’Auvergne, as well as two Bachelor’s degrees in History and Art History from the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris-I). She is bilingual in English and French.

	Marine Laviec - m.laviec@dcaf.ch Programme Manager, DCAF's International Security Sector Advisory Team Marine has 15 years of experience in projects and personnel management in various fields and organizations, with a focus on learning and development (L&D). She’s served as a project coordinator across the private, public and non-profit sectors. She has designed, deployed and evaluated skills development strategies; led training needs assessments; organized and delivered multiple online, blended or physical trainings. With the international NGO “Doctors Without Borders”, she served on six missions as a human resources manager in CAR, DRC, Nigeria, Uganda and Lebanon. She holds a bachelor’s from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Grenoble and a master’s degree in international law and humanitarian action from Université du Droit et de la Santé (Lille 2). She completed her studies in the University of California and spent two years in Ecuador working in the field of Human Rights. She speaks French, English and Spanish. She joined DCAF in 2019.

	Eleonora Dan - e.dan@dcaf.ch Programme Manager, DCAF's International Security Sector Advisory Team Eleonora has over 10 years of work experience in managing projects and programmes for different companies and organisations. Prior to joining DCAF, Eleonora worked as Project Assistant for Merck's Access to Health Unit in Geneva. She also worked as a fund-raising volunteer for Emergency, an Italian NGO providing support to victims of war, landmines, and poverty. Eleonora holds a master’s degree in international public affairs from the LUISS School of Government in Rome, and a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics (LSE) and the School of Political Science at the University of Bologna. Eleonora is fluent in Italian, English, French and Spanish.

	Floris de Klerk Wolters - f.deklerkwolters@dcaf.ch Senior Project Officer, DCAF's International Security Sector Advisory Team Prior to taking up this role in 2021, Floris has been at DCAF’s Asia-Pacific Unit since January 2019 and worked as student consultant researching illicit financial flows for the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding. Floris has a master’s degree in international affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. Floris received his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts & sciences from University College Utrecht. Floris speaks Dutch, English, Frisian, and decent French and German.

	Shestin Thomson - s.thomson@dcaf.ch Junior Project Officer, DCAF's International Security Sector Advisory Team Shestin has 6 years of experience in foreign and domestic policy advising, interdepartmental coordination, monitoring and evaluation, and community organizing. Prior to joining DCAF in 2022, she served as a Policy Advisor to a Member of the United States House of Representatives, the Professional Staff Member for the United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Field Director of a US congressional campaign. Shestin holds a master’s degree in international development from the Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland and bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Delaware in the US.