Towards a comprehensive approach? The EU’s contribution to Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Afghanist

Abstract

Gross, The EU's contribution to Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Afghanistan I T H E M E N SC H WE R P U N KT away from the insurgency and thus gradually reduce the level of violence, but as long as there is no inclusive peace and reconciliation process in place, reintegration efforts simply do not make sense. Furthermore, victims of past atrocities have reservations that the APRP might result in impunity for their tormentors. The overwhelming majority of Afghans want peace, but not at any cost. Perpetrators must be brought to justice, and victims have to be provided with full redress. In particular, any serious initiative for peace and reconciliation must also acknowledge the immense suffering of women during the Afghan war. In the run-up to the international Kabul conference in July 2010, Afghan women's rights activists demanded that "Women's rights and achievements should not be compromised in any peace negotiations or accords" and called for "rigorous monitoring and redress"28. Regarding the APRP, a fair proportion of the funding provided through the Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund should ensure that financial incentives for communities to support reintegration are used to support women's empowerment and development. Besides bringing justice to the victims of past and ongoing human rights violations, it is imperative to resolve the root causes of conflict. Violence in Afghanistan does not always follow a genuine political agenda. Quite often it stems from local disputes over land and water or inter-community differences. A range of factors such as natural disasters, refugee flows, corruption, or abuse of power can aggravate those quarrels and turn them into systematic violence. Decades of war have severely damaged the social fabric of the country, so traditional mechanisms for the resolution of disputes, such as community or tribal councils of elders, have become dysfunctional. However, peaceful means of conflict resolution and prevention have been widely neglected by donor countries and the Afghan government so far. The Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS), launched at the international donor conference in Paris in June 2008, just cursorily mentions peace building, but does not identify it as its own field of action. Given the fact that existing initiatives in Afghanistan have often proved to be effective at mediating local conflicts and helping to restore social cohesion, donors should provide much greater support for successful programmes such as the elected Community Development Councils (CDCs) under the National Solidarity Programme (NSP). What's more, in order to upgrade peaceful conflict resolution within Afghan development politics, a national strategy for peace building should be established. The upcoming renewal of the Afghanistan Compact would be a good opportunity for donors and the Afghan government to make up for what they have missed for far too long.29 Abstract: This article analyzes the EU's contribution to Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Afghanistan. It places EU efforts, particul those aimed at reforming the Afghan National Police (ANP), in the context of the broader international engagement in Afghan and the pursuit of a comprehensive approach that aligns civilian and military efforts. It argues that establishing a working div of labor and coordination between the NATO training mission NTM-A and EUPOL Afghanistan presents a significant challeng The institutional actors engaged in reforming Afghanistan's security sector have not yet succeeded in building a comprehens approach in Afghanistan's reconstruction.