For over forty years, Madagascar has been caught up in a succession of political crises that have undermined the country’s social and institutional fabric. The security sector faces numerous governance challenges, including interference of defence and security forces in politics, increased distrust from the public towards law enforcement agencies, and insufficient oversight of the justice and security sectors.
In 2014, Madagascar embarked on a process to reform its security sector and the next year became a member state of DCAF’s Foundation Council. Since then, DCAF has supported Madagascar in implementing reforms towards improved accountability and oversight of the police, gendarmerie, and armed forces.
In 2021, the Ministry of Defence announced an implementation plan (2021-2023) for the restructuring of the armed forces. Among the different strategic areas concerned, it prioritizes the strengthening of good governance, including the creation of an internal control and risk management system. This encompasses the rules and processes to ensure staff perform professionally and effectively, and to prevent, report and investigate misconduct.
DCAF has delivered technical training to members of the Ministry of Defence and various divisions (air, land, sea) of the armed forces of Madagascar to establish an internal control and risk management system. The areas of administrative responsibility of the trained individuals range from human resources to ethics, military investigations, finance, and operations. All individuals have been trained for the purpose of transmitting their skills to their peers through dedicated training programs facilitated by the Military Academy.
A ministerial directive that was drafted with technical support from DCAF will further anchor the establishment of the internal control system by laying a legal basis for the introduction of guiding principles, processes, and prerequisites.
Sophie Frediani, SSR Adviser (s.frediani@dcaf.ch)
Anne Bennett, Head of Sub-Saharan Africa Division(a.bennett@dcaf.ch)