Cross-Dimensional Approaches to SSG/R

The importance of supporting linkages between police and judicial reform is recognized in a number of OSCE documents. The success of police reform is highly dependent on parallel progress of the judicial system. Supporting such linkages in a comprehensive manner requires a cross-dimensional approach. For example, enhancing the capacity of the police to make arrests also requires consideration as to whether there are a sufficient number of adequately trained defence lawyers. Furthermore, to ensure effective processing of criminal cases, it is important to support co-ordination between the police and judicial actors. Failure to recognize synergies between police and judicial reform can lead to dysfunctional responses to dealing with crime, resulting in frustration among the population and a lack of trust in these institutions.

Like any other public sector, the security sector must be subject to democratic oversight. This principle is a cornerstone of effective SSG and has been affirmed by the OSCE in various documents. Democratic oversight may be carried out by parliaments, the judiciary or independent bodies, such as national human rights institutions. Effective support to oversight, as a means of contributing to good SSG, requires expertise from different dimensions. Common challenges to the OSCE’s support include perceptions that democratic oversight of the security sector is too sensitive in a given context, or a lack of clear institutional lead within the OSCE dimensions and hence a lack of adequate planning to establish the specific roles and responsibilities of OSCE actors.

Like in any other public sector, accountability, transparency and effectiveness are essential principles of good security sector governance. Therefore, SSG support also should include efforts to build integrity and counter corruption. Moreover, a number of OSCE commitments call for the effective management of public resources through strong and well-functioning institutions and recognize the role of the security sector in fighting corruption. Good security sector governance requires that national executive structures possess well established, sound and functional internal control mechanisms and management practices, including human, financial and information resource management, as well as procurement regulations. Within the OSCE, programmes in the second dimension often lead efforts to strengthen financial resource management. However, this support often focusses broadly on strengthening budgetary management, with no specific focus on the security sector. As improving internal accountability and management mechanisms is essential to increase the effectiveness of the security sector, joint and complementary contributions from OSCE Executive Structures in the different dimensions could be of benefit to this end.

Civil society can have multiple important roles in SSG/R, specifically in relation to accountability, transparency, human rights, participation, inclusivity and responsiveness, which are important to consider in all OSCE dimensions. For example, in relation to a people-centred approach to security, civil society organizations will usually possess important knowledge on the security needs of women, men, boys and girls and/or knowledge on specific local or regional issues that affect the security sector. As civil society can play an important role in communicating the security needs of the population to policymakers, they should be included in dialogue on reform priorities.

Civil society can also be a key source of information when conducting needs assessments and, thus, can contribute to OSCE programming. They should therefore be consulted in such processes. Civil society can also play an informal oversight role by holding authorities accountable for their actions through lobbying and advocacy campaigns. Academia and think tanks also have a role to play by providing research and analysis that can contribute to advocacy campaigns related to respective reform processes. The media, as a part of civil society, can ensure public access to information and provide a platform to voice concerns. Protecting media freedom is vital in democratic societies, and thus, it has become an integral part of the OSCE’s work – in particular, through the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. Without a comprehensive approach that includes civil society, it is therefore not possible to succeed in addressing essential aspects of SSG/R.

Gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment are essential elements of the OSCE’s concept of comprehensive security that are included in a number OSCE Documents. In the field of SSG/R, OSCE commitments set out the need to “create equal opportunities within the security services, including the armed forces, where relevant, to allow for balanced recruitment, retention and promotion of men and women.” The need to promote the engagement of women in judicial, prosecutorial and law enforcement institutions is also recognized, as is the need to promote women in parliamentary oversight of the security sector. The OSCE has also called for efforts to support the police in dealing with sexual and gender-based violence and recognized the important role of women in conflict prevention and peace-building.

To meet these commitments, especially a better understanding is required of gender dynamics in issues addressed by security sector institutions, such as preventing and countering terrorism, or about how exclusion of women in security sector institutions hampers their effective functioning. Integrating gender perspective in every stage of programmatic work and respective project design – including development, implementation and monitoring could help to increase the understanding of prevailing gender dynamics.

The promotion of human rights is a fundamental OSCE principle. In the context of the security sector, this principle requires both that the security sector respects, protects and fulfils human rights and that the human rights of security sector personnel are respected. Cross-dimensional approaches to SSG/R require that the promotion of respect and the protection and fulfilment of human rights be mainstreamed into OSCE activities with the security sector. Doing so may involve preventive measures, such as support on legislation, preventive visits to places of deprivation of liberty or capacity-building for security sector institutions or oversight bodies. Mainstreaming human rights may also include reactive measures, such as advocacy for the investigation of torture allegations.

Linking police and judicial reform, fostering independent oversight, strengthening integrity and anti-corruption and engaging with civil society, as well as mainstreaming and promoting gender equality and human rights, are all areas of support that, in practice, are mutually complementary and can often not be clearly delineated from each other. For example, when strengthening gender equality and accountability of the security sector, civil society can play an important role in providing external oversight. Also, the external oversight role of civil society can make an important contribution to both police and justice sector reform.

A cross-dimensional approach to SSG/R support requires a strategic vision of the support to be provided by the OSCE (and other international actors) in a given context. The development of a strategic vision for support should ideally be based on a needs assessment that determines the national needs and priorities for SSG/R support. The strategic vision should consist of specific goals, to which programmes in all OSCE dimensions will jointly contribute. In OSCE field operations, the Head of Mission, senior management as well as the policy and planning and/or programme co-ordination and support units will play an important role in encouraging a cross-dimensional approach to SSG/R.

A key challenge in SSG/R processes is to ensure a holistic approach to reform that takes into account linkages between the various actors and components of the security sector. Such an approach recognizes that reforms in one part of the security sector may not be successful if their effects on the rest of the security sector are not properly considered. Thus, OSCE efforts to ensure a cross-dimensional approach to SSG/R provide an opportunity to engage national stakeholders on the importance of holistic reforms. Co-operating with multiple actors in the security sector is therefore key, but in itself does not ensure that the approach is cross-dimensional. The OSCE might be better placed to provide credible advice in this area if it is also seen as promoting a comprehensive, cross-dimensional approach internally. OSCE staff should therefore communicate with national stakeholders about the OSCE’s own internal cross-dimensional approach to SSG/R support. Doing so can provide entry points to raise awareness among national actors on the importance of a comprehensive approach to SSG/R.

Roles and responsibilities tend to become blurred when several executive structures and/or departments within them are working on a topic that cuts across all dimensions, but the lead actor is not clearly defined. Once SSG/R priorities have been identified, the executive structure/department that will lead the provision of support should be clearly identified. The lead actor should then determine how support can be provided by other unit/departments in other dimensions in a complementary manner, including in the allocation of budget. This is particularly important to avoid gaps in priority areas, owing to a lack of clarity about which project or programme in the three dimensions should be taking the lead. Defining roles and responsibilities from the start of programmatic planning is also closely linked with internal co ordination in the subsequent implementation phase. Senior management plays an important role in encouraging such cross-dimensional co-operation and in setting up incentive structures for this purpose.

Once strategic priorities and common goals have been set and the roles and responsibilities clarified, these should be considered and reflected accordingly when drafting project proposals. The process of drafting project proposals can also be used to actively promote cross-dimensionality for SSG/R support. Some field operations have updated their UB project proposal templates for this purpose. In some field operations, project co-ordination units have been established in the Office of the Head of Mission to encourage cross-departmental consultations on all project planning. Such units can play an important role in encouraging a cross-dimensional approach to SSG/R support. Efforts should also be made at the departmental level to identify the extent to which cross-dimensional SSG/R linkages have been appropriately considered when developing relevant projects. Once roles and responsibilities are clarified on who is to lead the project and how responsibilities regarding implementation are distributed, these roles and responsibilities will also need to be reflected in the project-set up. A cross-dimensional project set-up can take different forms, also depending on whether funds are UB or ExB.

Establishing or making full use of internal co-ordination mechanisms is key to supporting cross-dimensional approaches. One such mechanism includes regular exchanges between heads of programmes or relevant project managers. Others include the development of matrices on common priorities or exchanges of information on the issues in the different dimensions that are regularly addressed with national stakeholders. Senior management has a key role to play in promoting internal co-ordination.

SSG/R focal points also have a crucial role to play in co-ordinating cross-dimensional SSG/R issues. Focal points in related areas can also contribute to mainstreaming SSG/R in their areas of work. For example, gender focal points in executive structures promote gender mainstreaming throughout the OSCE’s work, including in the area of SSG/R. Similarly, focal points on combatting human trafficking or on Roma and Sinti can all create synergies between their work and SSG/R efforts. That being said, focal points require adequate time and resources to be successful in co-ordinating efforts, as focal point roles are fulfilled in addition to the regular tasks and duties of OSCE officials. Also of importance is that the co ordination efforts of focal points be made in a way that fully respects the mandates of their executive structures.