N Dlamini Zuma: United Nations Security Sector Reform workshop

6 November 2007

Remarks by Minister Dlamini Zuma

His Excellency Minister Jan Kubis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Slovakia
His Excellency Minister Nana Obiri-Boahen, Minister of State of Interior of
Ghana
His Excellency Nelson Paluku, Deputy Minister of National Defence of the
Democratic Republic of Congo
Patrik Mazimhaka, Deputy Chairperson of the Commission of the African
Union
Excellencies
Distinguished guests

To those of you who are visiting Cape Town for the first time, I invite you
to enjoy this beautiful part of the continent, our mountains, the sea where two
oceans co-exist very peacefully and in harmony. I hope you will be able to
enjoy our very good wines and friendly people. And perhaps to visit the small
island which was home to some of Africa's finest sons for a very long time –
Robben Island. So please enjoy South Africa. It really is a world in one
country.

We are honoured by your presence in our country and, in the city of Cape
Town in particular, for this important international workshop on security
sector reform.

This workshop came about as a result of the good co-operation we have had
with the government of Slovakia during this time when we are both serving as
non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Our co-operation
in this area was also informed by our understanding of the relevance and the
centrality and complexity of security sector reform in all efforts of the
international community aimed at bringing peace, security and development to
the world.

We were therefore particularly pleased that this workshop could, among its
objectives, seek to contribute and complement other initiatives aimed at
helping Africa articulate a vision of security sector reform, and thereby also
contribute to the discussions at the level of the African Union (AU) and the
United Nations. Indeed it is our hope that the outcome of the discussions over
these two days will support similar initiatives at the African Union and at the
United Nations.

Excellencies

Security sector reform in its broadest sense is now accepted as one of the
pillars necessary for sustainable peace, security, democracy and development in
all societies. This is due to the important place occupied by the security
services – in particular the military, the police, intelligence and the
judiciary – in all societies. One the one hand these are agencies that can be
seen as the main projection of a State's power. On the other, they could also
be seen as agencies that should always be at the forefront of providing
security to all citizens. It is for this reason that professional, effective
and accountable security services have become a necessary institution for the
establishment of lasting peace and development. Without a well governed
security sector democracy and the respect for the human rights of citizens can
easily be imperilled. This therefore makes security sector reform also an
important aspect of the post-conflict reconstruction and development.

In many parts of our continent we are today witnessing significant progress
with the resolution of conflicts and the consolidation of peace and democracy.
Democratic elections have been held during the last decade in many African
countries, in fact, in the majority of African countries. Where conflicts still
persist there are moves to conclude peace agreements. There is no conflict that
has been left unattended even though we are aware that conflict resolution is
difficult, painstaking and time consuming. However, despite this, all conflicts
are attended to. In all these processes there is a realisation of the need for
a security sector that is oriented towards a progressive consolidation of
democracy. A security sector that supports the democratisation process and that
identifies with the needs of the people, a security sector that is a guarantor
of security and freedom, rather than a threat to it.

By its very nature security sector reform can be a politically sensitive
process. To succeed it is also important that it should be seen as
context-specific, addressing realities that differ from country to country. In
this regard I am pleased in this workshop there are case studies will be
presented and we will have an opportunity to look at the lessons learned from
the five countries. From the case studies that we will discuss it will be clear
that each of these countries faced its own unique challenges.

I would like to stress this point because for a long time our continent has
suffered from many attempts to impose one-size-fits-all solutions to our
problems. It is not a secret that this has been the case also with security
sector reform.

Excellencies

A related point is the need for security sector reform to be nationally
owned. In broader development assistance there is a new paradigm which
emphasises the need for nationally owned programmes. This is because of the
realisation that nationally owned programmes have a better chance of success.
National ownership also increases the accountability of governments to their
citizens. Security sector reform therefore also needs to be based on national
ownership if it is to succeed and be sustainable. It should be shaped and
driven by the local needs of the affected countries themselves.

National ownership in countries emerging from conflict can sometimes be
undermined by the reality that security sector reform is an expensive and
long-term process. Most of the countries emerging from conflict will not always
possess these required resources. However, as I have said already, it is
through national ownership that donors themselves can get a better result from
their assistance programmes. Therefore there should be no tension between
external support and national ownership of security sector reform
processes.

Indeed I wish to acknowledge the importance of the role of external support
for security sector reform. We appreciate the presence of many countries in
this workshop that have supported security sector reform programmes over the
years. It is also for this reason that the programme of the workshop will also
allow for a discussion of the role of external assistance in supporting
security sector reform. We hope that this discussion will look critically at
this matter and offer concrete ideas on how, amongst other things, external
assistance could support national ownership.

Security sector reform in countries emerging from conflict has also needed
to be seen as part of the broader post-conflict reconstruction and development
strategies and should not be seen in isolation. In South Africa and in many
other countries which have undertaken security sector reform we have had to
link it with the broader development framework in order to ensure its
sustainability. Other countries emerging from conflict have had to demobilise
soldiers, in certain instances including child soldiers, as part of security
sector reform. Without a link therefore to post-conflict reconstruction and
development this process would not be sustainable and would even create a
danger of a relapse to conflict.

From our experience in South Africa we also saw the importance of an
all-inclusive process in designing security sector reform programmes. The
involvement of all stakeholders, and particularly women, is also a prerequisite
for a successful reform of the security sector. This is important as the
security sector not only serves the state or ruling governments, but is
important for the society as a whole. Therefore the doctrines of our security
services needed to be understood and informed by the inputs of all
stakeholders.

Although I have been talking about security sector reform in countries
emerging from conflict it is also important for other countries as well. Most
see the need for a continuous review of their security policies even at times
of peace.

I am pleased that this workshop will also discuss the role of sub-regional
and regional organisations in security sector reform. African regional and
sub-regional organisations have an important role to play in security sector
reform. This flows from their mandates as well as their traditions and
practices. In the context of the African Union we adopted the Post-Conflict
Reconstruction and Development Framework (PCRD). The PCRD as a policy framework
is also premised on the realisation of the importance of security sector
reform. The PCRD therefore serves as an important component of the AU's peace
and security architecture.

At the global level an important part of this initiative that we are taking
with the government of Slovakia is to seek ideas that could contribute to the
elaboration of a UN framework for security sector reform. The United Nations,
through its various organs and specialised agencies, has been involved in
security sector reform in many countries. This, however, has taken place
without there being a common understanding or a standing United Nations
framework for security sector reform. We therefore hope that our discussions in
this workshop can also contribute to that.

Amongst all international organisations the United Nations has a unique
legitimacy due to the principles that it stands for as well the wide scope of
its work. To enhance their legitimacy, however, United Nations processes
require the inputs of all its Member States. They need to be informed by the
realities and the needs of all its Members. Therefore the results of our
workshop in the next two days should also serve to inform the discussions at
United Nations.

In conclusion I wish to thank the UNDP and all the governments that have
supported the hosting of this workshop in Cape Town.

I thank you

Remarks by Minister Jan Kubis

Thank you very much and it is good to be in South Africa. This is my first
visit to South Africa so it is my opportunity to experience your country.

I believe we are however dealing with serious topics so I would like to
first of all, express my deep appreciation to South Africa and Minister Dlamini
Zuma for engaging together with Slovakia in organising and promoting the idea
of Security Sector Reform (SSR) and in organising this event.

This is just one more re-confirmation of our good co-operation between our
two countries in the Security Council since both our countries are serving as
non-permanent members on the Security Council. We see eye-to-eye on many issues
and co-operate well. We are very glad that also, on this issue, we have been
able to join forces, and hold this meeting in South Africa.

I appreciate the efforts of our South African colleagues to organise this
event. I would like to thank you for your hospitality.

For us in Slovakia, SSR is the topic we have chosen as our horizontal topic
of interest during our tenure of the non-permanent seat on the UN Security
Council. This was the theme during our Presidency of the Council in February
2007. I am very glad that after the meeting that was well attended by
representatives of the UN family and member states we were able to issue a
Presidential Statement as one of the outcomes of the meeting. The
Secretary-General of the United Nations will, in turn, present a report on SSR
and we are eagerly anticipating this report. We, as Slovakia are hoping the
report will be presented soon so that we will have a chance to be part of the
discussions on this report.

For Slovakia, this topic is important because it confirms it is not only
important to have SSR in countries with conflict but also important to all
countries. Even in Slovakia, we experienced a period of transformation during
which we saw the contribution the reformation of the security sector can make
to the overall development of a country.

I can highlight this because through this reform that was considered in a
holistic way and encompassed areas like the judiciary, law enforcement
agencies, general democracy, human rights, we managed to create a good
environment that enabled us to move forward in our economic and social
development and therefore became more attractive to foreign investors. Unless
SSR is part of the overall reform and transformation of a country, it is not
attractive to foreign investors and is therefore unable to attract foreign
direct investment.

This is also one of the points I wanted to make: it is not just for the sake
of post-conflict countries in which we should see SSR but this is also good for
the overall, general development of a country not just from a military
perspective.

I am very glad that we can talk about SSR also from another perspective:
that of conflict prevention. Conflict prevention is very often dealing with
issues that are as important for conflict prevention such as for the security
sector. The reform of the security sector is important for creating conditions
that are working against conditions that will enable conflicts to emerge so
that is also a very important contribution of SSR.

Conflict prevention is becoming an increasingly important topic in the UN
system. We see it, not only in the attention the system is devoting to this
topic but also for the discussions that took place in the UN Security Council
recently spearheaded by the Republic of Congo. We are looking forward to the
report by the UN Secretary-General on the subject.

SSR from our perspective is so important because it means an eventual
improvement to the lives of ordinary people and not only institutional and
capacity building and technocratic approaches focusing on one or two particular
approaches or institutions but as I said, SSR without addressing the needs of
the common people will be incomplete.

Therefore, we hope very much that will increasingly, the UN system will be
able to create such basic elements of the SSR that will touch upon more and
more issues that are very important – I mentioned some of them – transitional
justice, rule of law, good governance, all that can be started through SSR and
can move towards other areas.

Off course, it means that we are dealing, not just with State institutions
but with people. People must be engaged through different fora – civil society,
NGOs, local authorities – without them it will be difficult to move
meaningfully towards SSR and therefore it is a priority to engage people and to
create openings for them and to work with them. We can then have support and
this support, at a local level can generate good support and momentum at higher
levels.

We saw this in a good number of conflict situations. When you miss the link
of engaging with the people, it is not only about disarmament, it is about
reintegration of the fighters – it is about justice – it is about topics like
woman’s rights, gender equality, integration of children previously engaged in
armed conflicts, etc.

I mentioned our experiences and I wanted to highlight this not only as
post-conflict countries that experience SSR. I mentioned our experience working
in the UN Security Council. I can just confirm that for close to two years we
have been working with the UN Security Council on aspects of SSR in many of the
situations of peacekeeping and conflict resolution with which we had to
deal.  And based on our experiences, we have become so active with SSR
because we see how important it is for the success of peacekeeping and conflict
if implemented in a holistic way.

We came to the conclusion to not have this as once off discussion but to
have ongoing and continuous engagement on the matter. We are very happy that
the UN Secretary-General will be very involved in this matter.

Off course, one element will involve national ownership as mentioned by
Minister Dlamini Zuma. Indeed, there is no model that will fit all situations.
It will be wrong to do this. But it is good to have some commonly developed and
implemented parameters and then we will have to apply them to very complicated
situations. Here is Africa, there have been many situations where SSR is a part
of the solution. Sometimes, it yields good results and sometimes, not
necessarily so. I am very grateful to you for participating in this way.

You are contributing not just analytical concepts but concepts of
practitioners, those who are dealing with conflict situations. I am very glad
this is a mixture, as I have said, of politicians, donor countries,
practitioners.

It is important to deal with SSR also within an understanding of the
dynamics and criteria of SSR that would assist us to develop and enhance
institutions like the UN Peace building Commission and the AU Peace and
Security Council developed under the banner of the African Union.

It was mentioned that SSR also involved good co-operation with donors,
sub-regional organisations, etc. This will be discussed later. I am very glad
that the EU is becoming increasingly involved in co-operation with Africa.

I would like to think that this is a small contribution of us all, Slovakia
as a new member of the European Union (EU), South Africa as a leading African
Union member to the forthcoming EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon and to the new
partnership we would like to cement with Africa based on equal partnership and
forward orientated, not just based on the donor-recipient paradigm. So again, I
have no doubt that this co-operation could and should influence the outcome of
the negotiations of the EU-Africa Summit.

Thank you

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
7 November 2007