Security Sector Reform (SSR)

    The ESDC EAB SSR was established in response to the request to enhance Security Sector Reform (SSR) expertise through a training mechanism within the EU and aims to optimise the coordination and coherence of EU SSR training. The group was set up in 2013 and brings together ESDC members who offer training and expertise in the area of SSR. The EAB SSR cooperates closely with the EU Task force on SSR, with representatives from the relevant EEAS and Commission services, as well as with the ‘European Union Security Sector Governance Facility’, through its courses, meetings and seminar series. The EAB seminar series began in 2014 and identified the need for a single overarching EU SSR concept, linking the Commission’s SSR activities with CSDP. This lay the ground for the following process of the ‘EU-wide strategic framework in support of Security Sector Reform’ of 5 July 2016, followed by the ‘Council conclusions on an EU-wide strategic framework to support Security Sector Reform (SSR)’ from 14 November 2016. The seminars series has continued to support the process of implementation of the EU SSR strategic framework and aims to create synergies between policy and practice through training. Each academic year, two or three expert seminars take place in Brussels and focus on various aspects of the implementation of EU-wide SSR. The discussions have for example included case studies such as the CSDP missions in EU AM Iraq, Somalia, Central African Republic and Ukraine as well as the regionalisation in Sahel and stabilisation support in Mopti, Mali. New developments in ‘capacity building in support of security and development (CBSD)’, conflict analysis, strategic communication, theory of change relevant for EU SSR action as well as international engagement and how the EU works with SSR-partners through cooperation have also been covered. Many of the discussions in the seminars have then been integrated into the ESDC SSR training. EU-wide SSR training, including Member States, EEAS, Commission, CSDP missions and EU delegations, supports the implementation of the EU-wide framework on SSR as part of the implementation of the EU Global strategy and the integrated approach to conflict and crisis. Special attention is given to sound analysis of the overall picture and political context in order to support local ownership through good governance and accountability. The development of methods for effective SSR-implementation through mentoring and advising, leadership and communication skills, gender and human rights mainstreaming as well as risk management, monitoring and evaluation, are elements that are also emphasised during training. The ESDC offers basic, core, and in-mission courses on SSR.

EAB SSR and DDR configuration

Chairs:

Kurt Meissner

Since 2008 Kurt Meissner is the Head of the Security and Defence Sector Reform Section in the Austrian Armed Forces Implementation Office for Arms Control and International Stabilization Measures. He attended various international courses, conferences and seminars in the fields of SSR, Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR), Building Integrity and Leadership Training, Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and conventional Arms Control. Kurt Meissner has gained experience in the field of SSG/R training as moderator, facilitator and instructor on a number of SSR courses and seminars. Kurt Meissner is Course Director of the ESDC Core Course on SSR conducted in Austria in cooperation of the MoD and the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Kurt Meissner is the Austrian representative in the Executive Academic Board on SSR Training in the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) and the Governing Board of DCAF/ISSAT. From 1995 to 2008 Kurt Meissner was Trainer and Course Director in the Training Division of the Austrian Armed Forces International Centre. He served altogether four years in international peacekeeping missions in the Middle East, Cambodia and Rwanda.

Configuration support team:

Maria do Rosário Penedos

Maria do Rosário Penedos is a senior official from the Ministry of National Defence of Portugal. She started her career in 1993 at the Defence Policy Directorate where she was responsible for negotiating and coordinating Defence agreements and bilateral partnerships and activities. In 2004, she joined the Portuguese Institute for Development Aid to head the Humanitarian Aid Division where she was responsible for humanitarian aid projects and supporting emergency aid efforts. She served in this role until 2005 when she was appointed Advisor to the Minister of National Defence. A year later, she was assigned as Director of the Communication and Public Relations Office of the Ministry of National Defence having overseen all national and international events hosted by the Minister of National Defence. She was leading the International Relations Department in 2019 when she was appointed to the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the EU. During the 2021 Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, she chaired the Council Working Party on Enhancing Resilience and Countering Hybrid Threats. She is currently a seconded national expert to the European Security and Defence College as a policy officer/training manager responsible for coordinating the ESDC EAB SSR/DDR Configuration and gender-related trainings. She holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science and International Relations from NOVA Lisbon University with a dissertation thesis on Defence Diplomacy. She had earned a Licentiate Degree in International Relations in 1992 from the Lusíada University of Lisbon.