Trans4orm CEO joins Civil Society in Geneva


The CEO and founder of Trans4orm Ghana, Mr. Vincent Azumah attended the first meeting of the global Reference Group for the project “Civil Society and Security Sector Engagement for Human Security” which took place in Versoix, Geneva. It was held to gather civil society experiences of engaging with and influencing the security system, in order to inform and develop a training curriculum. The meeting was intended to critically examine the existing draft curriculum, vet and improve case studies, and explore opportunities for development. Mr. Azumah who is also the Regional Coordinator in Charge of M and E for the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) was nominated to represent WANEP on the Reference Group and to ensure the WANEP and African experience are considered in drawing a curricular. The meeting was organized by the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies (Kroc), and hosted by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). The project is part of a Broader 3-year consortium endeavour of the three organizers, aiming to position and strengthen the role of CSOs vis-à-vis governments, regional intergovernmental organizations and the Security sector, while promoting and demonstrating the human security approach in practice. UNITAR Is the training arm of the UN, providing normative training and conducting research on knowledge Systems to allow beneficiaries to meet the challenges they face in daily work. One of its focus areas is peace, security and diplomacy, where an e‐learning course on human security has recently been produced. Jenny Aulin of GPPAC referred to the human security approach which frames “protection” and “empowerment” strategies as complementary; in this sense, the project sees the interaction between civil and military as an important nexus. The proposed training curriculum serves as a tool to enable a conversation and interaction between civil society and the security sector towards a productive or at least non‐harmful relationship with the security sector, for the purpose of human security. The Reference Group was deemed necessary to capture the wealth of expertise and experience of the civil society actors that are already engaging the security sector in different parts of the world, and to inform the mapping of such initiatives to avoid duplication. Lisa Schirch of the AfP, the coordinator of the project, explained that the project for this curriculum emerged in response to requests from the security sector for more training on how to interact with civil society. This has presented an opportunity to shape how the military understands and relates to civil society, as well as to emphasize principles of human security. Civil society does not want to be viewed as an implementer or a “contractor” – it needs to articulate its own objectives and motivations. At the same time, many CSOs are uncertain of how to engage with security forces or how to identify entry points for engagement. It remains a sensitive and often difficult relationship, particularly in repressive or non-democratic settings. The next steering Group meeting is scheduled for June 2014 in Sri Lanka.