Security sector reform focus of OSCE-supported training in Bosnia and Herzegovina

SARAJEVO, 14 March 2013 – An introductory course on security sector reform, co-organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Armed Forces of BiH Joint Staff and the Centre for Security Studies ended in Sarajevo today.

More than 50 participants representing relevant ministries and agencies, the armed forces, media and civil society took part in the discussion.

“The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina supports initiatives aimed at further enhancing the effectiveness of the wider security system in the country, in line with its OSCE commitments,” said Harald Quiel, the Director of the Security Co-operation Department of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Security sector reform seeks to make the system more responsive to the needs of all citizens, thus strengthening security in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the wider OSCE area.”

The course focused on the current situation and remaining challenges in various areas of security sector reform, including police reform and reform of the judiciary, defence and intelligence systems. The importance of including underrepresented groups in security sector decision-making and the need to consider emerging actors in the sector were also discussed. Particular emphasis was put on the importance of local ownership of the reform process.

“Local ownership is achieved when local actors recognize the importance of reforms for them personally and for the country as a whole, commit to the process, lead it as their own and take responsibility for its successes and failures,” said Brigadier Hamza Visca of the Armed Forces BiH Joint Staff.