The formation of the PfP-Consortium was proposed as a joint US-German initiative at the June 1998 Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Defence Ministers’ meeting (EAPC-D). The Swiss Confederation then offered to host the PfP-Consortium's First Annual Conference in conjunction with the Swiss-sponsored Third International Security Forum, held in Zurich on 19-21 October 1998.

The PfP-Consortium is an international organisation dedicated to strengthening defence and military education and research through enhanced institutional and national cooperation. Six working groups meet on a regular basis and a number of important projects have been developed, their various foci all being politically relevant. More information can be found on the PfP-Consortium’s homepage (http://www.pfpconsortium.org).

Created at the PfP-Consortium’s Annual Conference in Moscow, 2001, the Civil-Military Relations Working Group adapted its name to Security Sector Reform Working Group (SSR WG) to better reflect its wider objectives as, in the aftermath of September 11th events in South Eastern Europe, lessons learned from transition processes in South-East Europe and elsewhere, the efficient management of Security Sector Reform (SSR) as an ongoing process gained greater importance. SSR encompasses all security services, including oversight and monitoring bodies like parliaments, justice and civil society.

The SSR WG concentrates on SSR and the good governance (SSG) as a whole and the regional differences in approaching this topic, especially taking the human security concept into account. The SSR WG is in its work advising decision makers as well as building capacity in SSR/SSG.

Objectives

• To enhance the process of security sector reform and good governance through cooperation in joint research, outreach and expert formation initiatives;
• To encourage cooperation between international information networks in support of research, outreach and expert formation related to security sector reform and governance;
• To enhance the exchange of ideas, insights, expertise, knowledge and best practices of security sector reform processes between consolidating and consolidated democracies in the Euro-Atlantic Area.

Projects

The Evolution of Civil-Military Relations in South Eastern Europe; Continuing Democratic Reform and Adapting to the Needs of Fighting Terrorism. This co-production between the ISIS in Bulgaria, the Austrian Ministry of Defence (the Consortium Study Group on Regional Stability in SEE) and DCAF (the Consortium SSR WG) is the continuation of a book project (2nd volume). The publication is available online.

Security Sector Governance in Southern Caucasus – Challenges and Visions. This was a project jointly planned by the Consortium’s SSR Working Group and the Regional Stability Track. The preceding meeting took place in Reichenau, Austria, from 21-24 November 2003. The publication is available online.

Combating Terrorism and its Implications on SSR, 7th Annual Conference of the PfP-Consortium, 13-15 June 2004, Bucharest, Romania. The security sector panel discussed different issues, from “threat and response" and "counter-terrorism policy and strategy”, to the implications of terrorism for armed forces in selected countries, police, border guards, intelligence, parliamentary oversight and international humanitarian law. The publication is available online.

Facing the Terrorist Challenge / Central Asia’s Role in Regional and International Cooperation, 4-8 November 2004, Reichenau, Austria. This was the second project jointly planned by the PfP-Consortium’s Security Sector Track and the Regional Stability Track. It combined the participation of defence institutions from Central Asia, terrorist experts and security sector governance experts from the respective groups. Being a focus region after the EU/NATO enlargement, Central Asia slowly starts to be part of the security community, and therefore the terrorist challenge is a promising area of regional and international cooperation. The meeting served to get an overview of institutions and ideas, and of steps to take in order to re-launch PfP-Consortium activities in Central Asia and to define future activities. The publication is available online

Public Security Management in Post-Conflict Societies, 1-3 December 2004, Budapest, Hungary and 13-15 April 2005, Riga, Latvia. The transition from interventionist (military) peace-keeping to local (civilian) ownership of public security management has proved not only to be a conundrum and severe challenge for most peace-keeping operations and their civilian administrators, but also a reason for such operations being prolonged at tremendous cost. In many cases, peace-keeping operations and/or other international agents rapidly become part of the local economy, and thus contribute to the preservation of the status quo rather than to a sustainable process toward local governance. Meanwhile, local police organs (often remnants of the winning force in the antecedent conflict) remain tribal/clannish, and can hardly be seen as enforcement agencies of a law which is spelt-out equally for all citizens. The SSR WG launched a process addressing such delicate transition with the aim of formulating recommendations for the international community on future peace-keeping and public security management/transitional justice practices in conflict and post-conflict zones. A publication with the findings of the two conferences on public security management in post-conflict societies is available online

Democratic Defence Institution Building in the Former Soviet Union, 11-13 December 2005, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. The conceptual framework provided by the Partnership Action Plan - Defence Institution Building (PAP-DIB) was used to discuss the principles of democratic oversight. The event’s objectives included introducing the PAP-DIB process to participants, detailing how NATO allies and partner countries can work to implement it, exchange experience regarding the process of defence institution building in countries of the Euro-Atlantic area and explaining key DIB concepts: democratic and civilian control of the armed forces; effective and efficient management of defence institutions; security sector reform. Participants included members of the SSR WG and other civilian parliamentary, media and civil society defence experts from the former Soviet Union, as well as experts from NATO International Staff and the Moldovan Minister of Defence. The conference papers are available online.

Security Sector Reform in South East Europe - from a Necessary Remedy to a Global Concept, 5-7 October 2006, Cavtat, Croatia. During this two-day-conference the democratic standards for security sector reform and governance and the development of the pre-accession SSR conditionality were reviewed, together with the Western Balkan policy community. The conference documented and examined local needs and achievements in this field. Participants included the Croatian Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the Assistant Defence Minister from Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as experts from NATO International Staff, the Stability Pact for South East Europe, OSCE and from the region. The conference proceedings are available online.

Integrating the Western Balkans into NATO and the EU: Challenges, Expectations and Needs, 27.-29. November 2007, Zamak Pobore, Montenegro. For the first time the PfP Consortium had a meeting in this new PfP country – and it was well recognized as such. This relatively small expert-level workshop resulted in a policy paper, end of 2007 (requires registration and login).

Gender and SSR, 17.-19. February 2010, Geneva
SSR opens a window of opportunity to transform security policies, institutions, structures and programmes, thus creating an opening to integrate gender issues. The workshop highlighted the role of education and training in the context of gender and SSR. It sought to enhance national and institutional cooperation and built on the momentum by providing a platform for exchange and consolidation of DCAFs engagement in building capacity of the Alliance’s staff on gender and SSR. The workshop report is available in hardcopy and online.

Gender and defence transformation: Transforming national structures, sustaining international operations, 18 to 20 April 2011, Stockholm, Sweden
The seminar, jointly organized with the Swedish National Defence College and the Swedish National Armed Forces, gathered more than 40 armed forces personnel, NATO staff, representatives of defence academies and security studies institutes, ministries, women civil society organizations and think tanks from a wide range of NATO and PfP countries alike. Topics examined included the integration of gender in human resource policies, daily operations in international missions, pre-deployment training and education, and the feedback loop between research and operations. A seminar report will shortly be available.