As part of a project aimed at enhancing the capacity of the National Assembly to effectively carry out oversight functions on security agencies, the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) has developed three toolkits for that purpose.
DCAF’s Programme Officer, Jean Conte said the kits, described as “knowledge products” (instructional booklets) are a culmination of a three-year project.
The project is named: Supporting Democratic Oversight and Accountability of the Nigerian Security Sector. DCAF has been executing it in Nigeria since 2016.
The booklets are entitled: Supporting democratic oversight and accountability of the Nigerian security sector: a CSO handbook, A self-assessment tool for members of the security committees of the Nigerian National Assembly, and A guide and handbook for security sector committees of the Nigerian National Assembly.
Conte said the project, which closes at the end of March, was funded by the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) – and implemented by DCAF, in association with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC).
At the launch of the products in Abuja, Project Manager at DCAF, Geneva, Herve Gonsolin, told the gathering, made up of some clerks of committees of the National Assembly, representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) and the media, that the project is aimed to strengthen the capacity of the country’s National Assembly to carry out its oversight function on national security sector institutions.
One of the co-authors, Dr Heindri Bailey took participants through the toolkits, explaining the process leading to their production.
He said what was presented was not the final products, because there were plans to improve on what has been achieved.
The clerks and CSOs representatives in attendance were equally allowed the opportunity to identify, through a group exercise, how to mutually reinforce their oversight function over the security sector.
Bailey said the self-assessment tool, which is practical oriented, is intended to help committee members and clerks to reflect on their roles in terms of legislative oversight of the security sector and to identify what improvements could be made in this respect in light of best practices from their West-African counterparts.
He said the book includes “a questionnaire for the evaluation of the capacity of the committees in such areas as representativeness and accountability, and of the legislative framework needed for the effective oversight of the security sector.”
The orientation handbook, Bailey noted, is complementary to the self-assessment toolkit, and meant to help committee members and clerks to reflect on their oversight function from a broader perspective.
He added that, like the self-assessment toolkit, the orientation handbook draws on the lessons from the project and includes definitions of key SSG concepts as well as a presentation of the main oversight tools at the committees’ disposal.
Bailey explained that the awareness handbook for CSOs is meant to guide CSOs on the role they can play in democratic security sector oversight, which includes how they can plan, structure and implement their activities in an informed and efficient manner.
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