Main area: Peace and security
Theme: Activities involving provider country police
Assessment: ODA-eligible
Provider country: United Kingdom
Recipient country: Developing countries, unspecified
Implementing agency: UK Ministry of Defence
Budget (USD x 1000): 198
Year(s): 2016
Purpose code: 15210 Security system management and reform
Case number: Peace and Security / 22
Defence education: defence in a wider security context
Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context (MDWSC) is a defence education course delivered to personnel from the defence and security sector, both military and civilian. It is particularly relevant to countries making the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, or emerging from conflict, and seeks to reinforce good practice in relation to civilian oversight and control of the armed forces. It promotes responsible approaches to the management of defence and security, particularly in relation to accountability, transparency and corruption, gender and conflict, protection of human rights and observance of international humanitarian law, and thus underpin wider security sector reform efforts. Defence education is distinct from defence training, which seeks to impart specific military skills.
The course is delivered by a combination of civilian academic and military instructors. Elements covered by the course include:
civilian oversight and control of defence and security including relative roles of politicians, civil servants and security personnel and security sector reform/development;
civil-military relations;
democratic accountability and transparency, anti-corruption and risk;
legal framework for defence, e.g. rule of law, international humanitarian law and human rights.
The course explores approaches to the management of defence and seeks to encourage and reinforce positive behaviours of attendees, and through them influencing the culture of their employing organisations. The course helps to reinforce democratic oversight and control of the armed forces, and engender greater transparency and accountability in the defence sector. It does this by embedding an approach to management and leadership that adheres to international humanitarian law and standards of accountability, transparency, human rights, gender security and protection of civilians. In 2016, courses were delivered in the ODA-eligible countries of Chile, Fiji, Serbia and Uruguay.
This activity is deemed ODA-eligible. The activity is in support of civilian oversight and democratic control of the military system and the topics covered by the course relate exclusively to the areas of military training listed in paragraph 121 of the Reporting Directives (see DCD/DAC(2024)40/FINAL). The directives state that training should be preferably by civilian actors, jointly by civilian and military actors, or, by way of last resort, by military actors. Involvement of the provider country military in delivery of the course is essential, as civilian personnel do not have the full range of knowledge and experience necessary to deliver the course, or the credibility to cover certain aspects. The combination of civilian and military personnel working in close partnership in the delivery of the course also reinforces, in itself, some of the key lessons relating to the relationship between military and civilian personnel working in the security sector.
By improving the capacity to manage security challenges responsibly, within a framework of proper democratic oversight and control and respect for human rights, the course contributes to the welfare of the population of recipient nations. It contributes to the development of effective, accountable and inclusive institutions, recognised in the UN Sustainable Development Goals as being at the core of sustainable development.
This document was approved by the Development Assistance Committee under a written procedure on 20 October 2017 and prepared for publication by the OECD Secretariat.
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