Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces

The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces

Founded	2000
Type of organisation	Non-profit Foundation
Headquarters	Geneva, Switzerland
Permanent Regional Offices	Beirut, Brussels, Ljubljana, Ramallah, Tunis
Member states	63
Members with permanent observer status	Four governments and two international organisations
Director	Amb. Thomas Guerber
Staff	150+
Web address	www.dcaf.ch

The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) is an international foundation whose primary fields of activity include Security Sector Reform (SSR) and Security Sector Governance (SSG). DCAF was founded in 2000 under Swiss law^[1] and on the initiative of the Swiss government.^[2] Its stated aim is to "support effective, efficient, and democratically governed security sectors, which are accountable to the state and its citizens".^[3]

The organisation's thematic fields of expertise include:^[4]

• Border police management
• Defence reform
• Gender and security
• Intelligence governance
• Justice sector reform
• Ombuds institutions for the armed forces
• Parliamentary oversight of the security sector
• Police reform
• Private security governance
• Public-private partnerships and security governance

The Centre's core services include:^[5]

• Strategic advice to governments and international organisations on the development of SSR and SSG policies
• Assessments
• Programme design and implementation
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Capacity-building and training
• Knowledge services and the development of instructive resources for SSR practitioners

The DCAF collaborates with governments, international organisations, regional organisations, and expert networks. The Centre operates globally with particular emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and Southeast Asia.^[6] DCAF’s outreach projects also cover the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Latin America.^[7][8]

The DCAF is one of the main stakeholders in the Maison de la paix – a complex which was opened in phases from September 2013 to January 2015 in the international organisation quarter of Geneva and which houses, in addition to DCAF, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. DCAF moved into the Maison de la Paix in January 2015, grouping all Geneva-based staff under one roof in close proximity to other key players in International Geneva.^[9]

Organisation

DCAF's Foundation Council comprises 63 governments as well as four governments and two international organisations that hold observer status.^[10] DCAF's headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland, and it maintains permanent regional and country offices in Beirut, Brussels, Ljubljana, Ramallah, Tripoli, and Tunis.^[11] The Hon. Véronique Bujon-Barré of France is the President of the Foundation Council.^[12] The Director of DCAF is Amb. Thomas Guerber.^[13]

The member states and permanent observers include, in alphabetical order:^[14]

Member states

Permanent observers

The Centre's work is carried out by the following divisions:^[15]

• The Deputy Director’s office (which oversees DCAF Brussels and the Centre's activities in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Latin America)
• Operations I – Southeast Europe (which hosts the Secretariat of the Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe)
• Operations II – Middle East and North Africa (which hosts the DCAF Trust Fund for Security Sector Development Assistance in North Africa)
• Operations III – sub-Saharan Africa & Gender and SSR
• Operations IV – Public-Private Partnerships
• The International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT)
• The Research Division

As of 2014, DCAF employs over 154 staff from 35 countries.^[16] DCAF's budget in 2014 was 35.26 million Swiss francs, of which the government of Switzerland financed 55.3 per cent and other member states and international organisations 44.7 per cent.^[17]

DCAF's Activities

Engagements with International Organisations

With the United Nations (UN), DCAF:^[18]

• Provides advisory support, training, and policy research mandates for various UN agencies and departments, both at headquarters and in the field, including the Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (ONUCI), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODOC), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations Police (UNPOL)/United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), United Nations Police (UNPOL)/UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
• Supported the development of the first (2008) and second (2013) United Nations Secretary General's reports on SSR.^[19]
• Supported the development of the UN Integrated Technical Guidance Notes on SSR^[20] (ITGNs), the UN integrated DDR standards^[21][22] (IDDRS), as well as impact assessment methodologies concerning the rule of law and security institutions.

With the European Union (EU), DCAF:^[23]

• DCAF’s engagement with the EU in 2014 focused around four key areas: security sector reform (SSR) capacity building for EU staff members; helping to shape EU engagement in the field; working with

the EU to improve the delivery of security and justice services on the ground; and input to EU policy development and strategic thinking. DCAF works with several EU bodies and field missions, including the European Commission (EC); European Security and Defence College (ESDC), European Police College (CEPOL), EU External Action Service (EEAS), Civilian Planning and Command Capability (CPCC), Crisis Management and Planning Directorate (CMPD), the Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Mediation Division, the EU Delegation Kinshasa, EUCAP Sahel Mali, the EU Border Assistance Mission for Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM), FRONTEX, the European Commission (Directorate-General (DG) Migration and Home Affairs (HOME), including the EU antitrafficking coordinator, DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement (NEAR), DG Development and Cooperation, the General Secretariat of the Council, EUROPOL, and lastly EUROJUST

With the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), DCAF:^[24]

• Provides advisory support, training, and policy research mandates for various OSCE bodies and field missions, including the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department (TNT), the OSCE’s Borders Team, and the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC).
• Serves the Swiss government as a strategic partner in advance of Switzerland's Chairmanship-in-Office of the OSCE in 2014 as well as during its tenure as a member of the OSCE Troika, along with Ireland (2012), Ukraine (2013), and Serbia (2015).^[25]

With The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), DCAF:^[26]

• Provides advisory support, training, and policy research mandates to support various NATO programmes and NATO-associated bodies, including the Partnership for Peace (PfP), the Partnership Action Plan on Defence Institution Building (PAP-DIB), NATO’s Building Integrity (BI) Programme, the South-Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial Process (SEDM), the NATO Liaison Office in Ukraine (NLO), the NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives (NCGP), the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA), the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany, and the George C. Marshall European Center of Security Studies.
• Chairs the PfP Consortium Working Group on SSR.

With the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), DCAF:^[27]

• Supported the drafting of the Code of Conduct for Armed Forces and Security Services of ECOWAS.
• Collaborated with the ECOWAS Parliament in the development of "Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector: ECOWAS Parliament-DCAF Guide for West African Parliamentarians".
• Continued the development of a DCAF–ECOWAS Toolkit for Security Sector Reform and Governance in West Africa.

Regional Initiatives

In Southeast Europe, DCAF is active in:

In these countries DCAF:^[28]

• Operates regional and bilateral programmes focusing on border police cooperation, police integrity building, modernising power ministries, strengthening intelligence oversight, gender mainstreaming, parliamentary assistance, and civil society empowerment.
• Hosts the permanent secretariat of the Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe (PCC) at the DCAF regional office in Ljubljana.
• Supports the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in the implementation of the Swiss Regional Police Cooperation Programme in the Western Balkans (SPCP 2012-16). DCAF also serves as a member of the Swiss Intermediate Body responsible for the management of migration-focused projects in Romania and Bulgaria.

In Western Europe, the following EU countries, as well as   Switzerland and  Norway, are members of DCAF:

In affiliation with these countries DCAF:

• Has conducted advisory field support mandates on behalf of Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
• Conducts training courses on Security Sector Reform for civil servants and security sector actors.
• Maintains close cooperation with the Norwegian Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee (EOS), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

In the Newly Independent States region, DCAF is active in:

•  Armenia,
•  Azerbaijan,
•  Georgia,
•  Kyrgyzstan,
•  Moldova,
•  Mongolia,
•  Tajikistan, and
•  Ukraine

As in previous years, most of DCAF’s activities in the New Independent States region beyond the frameworks of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) were conducted on a bilateral basis. The majority of these projects were implemented in Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine. In these countries DCAF:^[29]

• Cooperates with national parliaments, governments, security sector institutions, and civil society organisations on democratic security governance programming.
• Coordinates regional programming on democratic security governance issues.
• Support the role of ombuds institutions at national and institutional levels.
• Coordinates with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on programming opportunities.
• Liaises with the United Nations Development Programme—European Union Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA 8), which assists the five Central Asian states in the creation of modern and efficient border security systems.
• Worked with the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) to implement a comprehensive advanced distance learning course on ‘Modern Border Control Practices and Related EU Standards’ for border police station commanders and mid-level border security managers.

In the Middle East and North Africa, DCAF is active in:

•  Egypt,
•  Iran,
•  Iraq,
•  Lebanon,
•  Libya,
•  Morocco,
• occupied Palestinian territory,
•  Qatar, and
•  Tunisia ^[30]

In these countries and/or the occupied Palestinian territory DCAF^[31] operates regional and bilateral programmes focusing on strengthening oversight and accountability of security sector actors, improving transparency and communication between power ministries and the population, the training and capacity building of civil servants, gender mainstreaming, civil society empowerment, and the training of journalists in the coverage of security issues and the monitoring of security forces’ activities.

In North Africa, DCAF maintains the Trust Fund for Security Sector Development Assistance in North Africa, which supports security sector reform processes specifically in the following countries:

 Tunisia

In the first weeks following the Tunisian Revolution, the DCAF offered its expertise to the transitional government. Since February 2011, DCAF has been reinforcing its cooperation with the government through concluding agreements and developing assistance programmes with several ministries (including those of Interior, Justice and Defence). In July 2011, Tunisia joined the DCAF Foundation Council and became its 60th member state. In order to facilitate the implementation of its cooperation programme, DCAF opened an office in Tunis in October 2011. This office has been part of the Trust Fund programme since June 2012.

The objective of the TFNA’s programme in Tunisia is to assist the authorities in establishing good governance of armed forces, police and security forces which:

• Operate under clear policy and legal frameworks;
• Deliver efficient services in a transparent manner, in line with the security needs of citizens;
• Adhere to the principle of rule of law, and whose individual members are fully accountable for their actions;
• Are properly managed and overseen by the executive, legislative and judicial authorities;
• Are subject to informal oversight by the media and civil society.

In support of its operations in Tunisia, DCAF has created the following free and accessible databases:

• The Legislation of the Security Sector in Tunisia Official website

This database contains all the legislation governing the security sector in Tunisia - around 1,700 texts - which have been adopted since Tunisia's independence in 1956. The database covers the main security providers (the armed forces, the internal security services etc.), as well as oversight institutions and formal management structures (the government and its ministries, the parliament, etc.). Furthermore, it contains all the laws and regulations covering and authorizing the work of informal oversight mechanisms (political parties, the media, NGOs, etc.) as well as the international cooperation agreements in the area of security and human rights.

• Marsad Tunisia Official website

Marsad is the Tunisian Security Sector Observatory. It collects news, analysis and reports related to governance.

 Libya

DCAF has been active in Libya since 2012. As a neutral and independent actor, DCAF aims to assist Libyans in enhancing good security sector governance, as Libya will only be able to sustainably tackle the challenges it faces if the security sector acts within a strategic framework and under democratic, national ownership. DCAF also promotes effectiveness, efficiency and transparency within the security and justice institutions. To this effect, DCAF has established an office in Tripoli, and is working with a number of local stakeholders. By making a contribution to improving good governance in the area of security, DCAF supports Libya’s democratic transition and helps to advance peace and stability in the region. In April 2014, DCAF launched the Libyan Security Sector Legal Database, providing up-to-date access to current, revoked and draft legislation governing the security sector.

 Morocco

DCAF launched its activities in Morocco in 2008 on the basis of the recommendations of the Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission (Instance équité et réconciliation). The “third way” Morocco has engaged in since 2011 has opened additional venues to discuss reform and good governance of the security sector with the Moroccan Government, Parliament and civil society. At the request of Parliament and civil society, DCAF has organised a number of events and provided comparative expertise on good security sector governance. It also organised a conference on national security policies in North-West Africa in Rabat in 2010. Download the fact sheet on the security sector reform strategy in the recommendations of the Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission here.

 Egypt

Events in Egypt over the past few years have showed that the civil-military relations are a key determining factor in the consolidation of Egypt’s democratic transition. Egypt's prospects for economic recovery and social stability would be bleak if relationships between its civilian and military institutions were not redefined and rendered consistent with existing international standards. DCAF aims to contribute to an open, informed and constructive debate on good security sector governance in general and civil-military relations in particular. To this end, DCAF is currently focusing on making information available and providing opportunities for knowledge exchange and debate among key stakeholders and the general public.

On 2–5 March 2014, DCAF organised a conference in Montreux, Switzerland on security sector governance and civil-military relations in Egypt.

In June 2014, DCAF launched an online observatory – Marsad – to monitor security sector developments in Egypt: www.marsad.eg and www.marsad-egypt.info

In Sub-Saharan Africa, DCAF is active in:

In these countries DCAF:^[32]

• Coordinates regional and bilateral programmes focusing on the mainstreaming of gender in SSG, parliamentary oversight, and capacity building regarding democratic SSG for civil servants, security sector actors, expert networks, and civil society organisations.
• Provides project-specific SSR guidance to donor countries’ field staff in the areas of assessment, programme design, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Cooperates with the African Union (AU), the African Development Bank (AfDB), ECOWAS, the Southern African Defence and Security Management Network (SADSEM), the African Security Sector Network (ASSN), and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).

In Asia, DCAF is active in:

•  Cambodia,
•  Indonesia,
•  Myanmar,
•    Nepal,
•  The Philippines,
•  Thailand, and
•  Timor-Leste

Mongolia joined DCAF in 2014. In these countries DCAF:^[33]

• Supports the Inter-Parliamentary Forum on Security Sector Governance in Southeast Asia (IPF-SSG-SEA).^[34]
• Supports regional and bilateral programmes focusing on the development of national dialogues on SSR and SSG; engages stakeholders from the armed forces, police, power ministries, parliament, academia, and civil society; and provides training and capacity development regarding SSG.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, DCAF is active in:

•  Argentina,
•  Chile,
•  Honduras,
•  Mexico, and
•  Uruguay

In Latin America and the Caribbean DCAF:^[35]

• Provides support to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s (SDC) office in Honduras for the Swiss Cooperation Strategy for Central America 2013-2017, which entails assistance in the areas of Security Sector Reform, conflict analysis, and conflict sensitivity.
• Developing recommendations for the European Commission on ‘EU Support to Justice and Security Sector Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean’.

Selected Focus Areas of DCAF's Thematic Programmes

Parliamentary Assistance: DCAF promotes the role of parliaments in SSG, supports capacity building and specific trainings for members of parliaments and parliamentary staff, and develops knowledge products that parliamentarians can refer to when performing their oversight duties.^[36]

Private Security Governance: DCAF supports the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross in promoting the Montreux Document on Pertinent International Legal Obligations and Good Practices for States related to Operations of Private Military and Security Companies during Armed Conflict (Montreux Document). DCAF also facilitates the development, under Swiss government mandate, of the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC) and its Oversight Mechanism to support compliance with the ICoC by member companies.^[37]

Cyber Security, Digital Policy and Internet Governance: Over the past five years, DCAF has devoted significant research capacities to the identification of linkages between cyber security and security sector governance / security sector reform (SSG/SSR). In the framework of the ‘Horizon 2015’ project, launched in 2010, the Centre identified challenges and topics that would dominate the SSG/SSR agenda over the next five years, among which cyber security featured prominently.^[38]

Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces: DCAF supports the annual International Conference of Ombuds Institutions for Armed Forces (ICOAF)^[39] and promotes international cooperation between such bodies, formulating policy recommendations, and documenting best practices and lessons learned.

Gender and Security: DCAF works directly with national law enforcement, defence, security, and justice institutions on mainstreaming gender into their policies and practices, including assisting with institutional gender (self-)assessments, assisting the implementation of National Action Plans for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, curriculum development, training of trainers, reducing the dependence of security education and training institutions on experts from donor countries (by developing the capacity of local institutions), supporting institutional development of female staff associations, and the promotion of women's participation in the security sector and its reform.^[40]

Integrity Building: DCAF supports, in the areas of police reform and defence reform, the building up of institutional integrity, reduction of corruption, and the enhancement of transparency and accountability. The Centre also supports the integrity building self-assessment process in member states of the South-Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial (SEDM) process (which includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States). DCAF also runs a dedicated Police Integrity Building Programme (PIBP) in Southeast Europe.^[41]

Asylum, Migration and counter-Trafficking in Human Beings: In 2014, DCAF successfully continued its nascent programme on Asylum, Migration and Counter-Trafficking in Human Beings (THB). In this Framework, DCAF has maintained a strong working relationship with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Swiss experts for projects in Romania and Bulgaria.^[42]

Global Health and Security: As a result of the Ebola outbreak of 2014 in Western Africa, DCAF forms a partnership with the Global Health Programme of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), bringing together experts and high-level opinion leaders from the global health and security sector communities to examine the question of employing the security sector in the service of global health crisis prevention and management.^[43]

DCAF Knowledge Products

Prominent DCAF resources for SSR practitioners include:

• Handbook on Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector^[44]
• Toolkit on Police Integrity^[45]
• Building Integrity and Reducing Corruption in Defence: A Compendium of Best Practices^[46]
• Overseeing Intelligence Services: A Toolkit^[47]
• Gender and Security Sector Reform Toolkit^[48]
• Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces: A Handbook^[49]
• Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel^[50]

The Centre produces a number of topic-specific publications and publication series to support research into SSR and SSG, as well as related fields, including SSR Papers, Yearly Books, and the DCAF Backgrounders series.^[51]

Notes and references

See also

• Maison de la paix

External links

• DCAF Annual Report 2014
• International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT)
• DCAF Tunisia
• Inter-Parliamentary Forum on Security Sector Governance in Southeast Asia (IPF-SSG-SEA)
• International Conference of Ombuds-Institutions for Armed Forces (ICOAF)
• International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC)
• La Législation du secteur de la sécurité en Tunisie (The Legislation of the Security Sector in Tunisia) – an online database containing legislative documents concerning the security sector in Tunisia
• Gender and Security Sector Reform Training Resource Website
• UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) - Offers an introductory e-learning course on SSR, jointly developed by DCAF and UNITAR
• The Association for Security Sector Reform Education and Training (ASSET)
• DCAF Ljubljana: Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe (PCC)
• Maison de la Paix