The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a political and military alliance created in 1949 with the aim of safeguarding the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. NATO promotes democratic values and encourages consultation and cooperation on defence and security issues to build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
Since 2001, DCAF has been actively engaged with NATO on a number of cooperative security governance programmes. Building on its broader activities in the areas of democratic governance, including defence/law enforcement/intelligence reform, human rights, rule of law and development programming, DCAF has sustained cooperation platforms with NATO in the areas of defence reform, democratic governance and – most recently – gender aspects of security governance.
What does NATO do for SSR?
NATO’s role in SSR has been driven by the process of preparing countries for membership and, once they are members, integrating them into Alliance structures. NATO has made democratic governance of the security sector one of the main concerns of its approach to enlargement (see: NATO 2010, Strategic Concept for the Defence and Security of the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation). It has also developed a series of programmes designed to strengthen the effectiveness and accountability of institutions concerned with defence. Additionally programmes such as the Partnership Action Plan on Defence Institution Building (PAP-DIB) and those for fighting terrorism have also addressed SSR issues. SSR issues are also included in NATOs work in peace support operations. Moreover, NATO has become increasingly involved in the reform of security forces in countries like Ukraine. All these efforts are promising. However, some argue that NATO needs a more robust and comprehensive approach to SSR in post conflict and conflict settings if it is to be successful in its stabilisation role and if reconstruction is to proceed.[1]
Sources:
NATO Partnership for Peace Programme (PFP)
[1] David M. Law (ed.), Intergovernmental Organisations and Security Sector Reform. DCAF (2007)