7 April 2013
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – The African Security Sector Network (ASSN) has signed a Grant Support Agreement with the UN Office of Project Services (UNOPS) to develop a number of guidance tools and other instruments that will support the implementation of the African Union Policy Framework on SSR (AUPFSSR).
The ASSN-UNOPS agreement forms part of a broader multi-year programme titled ‘Building African Union Capacities in Security Sector Reform (SSR),’ which seeks to build the AU’s SSR capacity by bolstering African ownership in the policy and practice of SSR, peacekeeping, post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding. This capacity building programme will be implemented in a partnership between the African Union (AU) Commission, the European Union (EU), the UN Office to the AU (UNOAU), the SSR Unit in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO SSR Unit), UNOPS and the ASSN.
For the most part, the programme will seek to build the AU’s capacity to successfully implement the AUPFSSR, a continental policy framework on SSR developed by the AU Commission, with technical support from the ASSN, in a highly consultative process that began in 2006 and culminated in its adoption by AU Heads of State and Government at the 20th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU Summit in January 2013.
The agreement signed by the six implementing partners places overall responsibility for the programme with the AU Commission, while committing the ASSN and UNOAU to provide technical support towards its implementation.
In the immediate term, the ASSN is tasked with the development of a number of guidance tools and other instruments that will facilitate the implementation of the AU-SSRPF. These instruments include an ‘AU Guidance Note on Developing National Codes of Conduct for African Security Institutions’; an ‘Operational Guidance Note (OGN) on SSR Assessments;’ and an ‘Operational Guidance Note (OGN) on Gender.’
The ASSN’s contribution to the current capacity-building programme is consistent with previous Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between the AU, the UN and the ASSN. A copy of the ASSN-UNOPS Agreement can be viewed on this link.