Interim SSR Support Strategy

As an effective and accountable security sector is the foundation of any viable state, MONUSCO’s SSR engagement in the DRC is critical for conflict prevention, peace consolidation, and as a mean to extend legitimate state authority. Moreover, SSR support is key to strengthen accountability, coherence and effectiveness of the security governance of the electoral process, a crucial dimension for the promotion of political space and human rights. 

Against this background, the Security Sector Reform Division (SSRD) of MONUSCO developed an interim SSR Support Strategy (2017-19) to increase effectiveness of delivered assistance and strengthen alignment to the mission mandated objectives and future directions. Strategic priorities identified are as follows:

  1. Support the development of a comprehensive and inclusive national security vision;
  2. Development of enabling institutional capacities for effective and accountable security sector governance; and
  3. Coordination of international assistance to SSR.

Concretely, the Mission delivers a coordinated and coherent support to the SSR process:

  • at the strategic level – strengthening the SRSG's good offices for security sector engagement during the electoral period, supporting national political dialogue, and fostering change management;
  • at technical level – providing advice and technical support to national stakeholders (enabling catalytic capacity development) and achieving unity of effort and vision within the UN and with external partners (coordination);
  • at operational level – fostering the bottom-up approach and supporting other Mission field components activities in support to local security governance, training, confidence-building measures.

Against this background, priority areas of engagement include:

  • Promotion of inclusive dialogue to strengthen national ownership of SSR;
  • Improve coherence of legal and policy frameworks for effective and accountable security sector governance;
  • Support to democratic oversight actors (Parliamentary Committees and civil society) to effectively exercise their functions;
  • Coordination of assistance to SSR (UN SSR Working Group);
  • Communication and outreach for SSR issues sensitization to the public

In the context of the country’s pre-electoral phase, SSR support focuses on strategic policy advice for security sector engagement and technical assistance on electoral security governance to strengthen national security institutions accountability, coherence, and effectiveness.

In the post-electoral phase, SSR support will focus on the strategic priorities identified to widen security sector governance perspectives and deliver strategic advice and advocacy for the development of an inclusive national security vision, accompanied by enabling capacity development support and enhanced international coordination.