Enhancing Democratic Governance of the Security Sector: An Institutional Assessment Framework

Security sector reform has assumed an increasingly prominent role on the international agenda over the last five years. It has been linked with debates on poverty alleviation, sustainable development, professionalization of the security forces, and good governance. This institutional assessment framework is designed to assist the Government to determine how best to strengthen democratic governance of the security sector.

The framework is not intended to generate information about a country’s security bodies, force structure, defence plans, intelligence gathering systems, or the level of expenditure on any of the security bodies. Rather, the focus is squarely on process, both formal and informal.

The framework is designed to promote dialogue among local actors from the political, developmental and security fields in countries that are contemplating engaging in security sector reform. Also, based on independent analysis, the framework provides the Government with a mechanism for engaging constructively with its external partners in order to promote strategies that strengthen the democratic governance of the security sector.