Gender and Security Sector Reform in West Africa

WIPSEN-Africa and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) are collaborating on a one-year project on gender and security sector reform (SSR) in West Africa. The project which is currently being implemented in two countries in this pilot phase, Liberia and Sierra Leone, is intended to strengthen the integration of gender and women's issues in SSR processes and enhance the capacities of female security sector personnel. This is against the backdrop of the recent experiences with the SSR processes in both Liberia and Sierra Leone which has seen the new/emerging security structures being (re)designed without adequate consultation with, and participation of, women. Thus the project seeks to address this observed gap by strengthening the involvement of women in SSR processes in order to ensure local ownership, democratic governance and adequate transformation of the security sector in a manner that meets the different security and justice needs of men, women, girls and boys.

The project has three (3) strategic objectives:

1. To ensure a functional interactive platform for women in the security sector in West Africa.
2. To enhance the capacities of key parliamentarians, female armed forces and law enforcement personnel and women's organizations to mainstream gender and women's issues into new security structures and operations.
3. To facilitate knowledge and experience networking on gender and SSR through documentation of good practices and lessons learned.

For more information, please contact wipsen@wipsen-africa.org.