Security Sector Reform and Donor Assistance in Serbia - Defence ...

General Recommendations1. STRATEGIC APPROACH – the most important aspect is investing in developing anacceptable strategy on supporting SSR and place emphasis on a programme-basedapproach, rather than project based, with emphasis on governance issues, i.e.vertical and horizontal cross-sector connectivity.2. FLEXIBLE APPROACH - the recipient country must own the coordination process,which should not preclude the donor community from initiating their own coordinationeffort.3. ACTIVE DOMESTIC COORDINATION PROCESS – in support of the high-levelNational Security Council, the creation of a senior-level working group dedicated toSSR, as well as the encouragement of more inter-ministerial operation cooperationwould greatly aid the effective and efficient usage of donor assistance and positivelyimpact reform efforts.4. HORIZONTAL ENGAGEMENT - engaging a wider spectrum of countries andstakeholders into the SSR process at an early stage, not just key interlocutors or‘friendly’ actors.5. VERTICAL ENGAGEMENT - more emphasis must be placed on the in-depthengagement of Serbian stakeholders (domestic institutions) as key actors not just interms of coordination, but also harmonisation and alignment, which will enable aquality change process with more sustainability and cost-effectiveness.6. CONTROL SUB-CONTRACTING EFFORTS – through careful screening,subcontractors can be a cost-effective tool. More effort must be taken in the selectionof implementation partners, including more control on sub-contractor providedactivity.7. IMPROVED EVALUATION – donors must place more emphasis on building upimproved evaluation techniques, both those in cooperation with the relevant recipientcountries, but also their own evaluation. Reliance on external consultants to providethis service is not sufficient if there is not space for an adequate ‘lessons learned’process.8. ADEQUATE HUMAN RESOURCES – through the application of a well plannedhuman resources deployment policy, engage both civilian and security (military andpolice) personnel taking into account the holistic nature of change management inpublic service and the specificity of Serbia.9. FORMALISED COORDINATION IS BENEFICIAL – despite negative aspects, mainlyrelating to excessively high expectations. Formal coordination between the keystakeholders on both sides enforces higher levels of harmonisation, ultimatelycontributing to better utilisation and value for money.10. CIVIL SOCIETY ENGAGEMENT – continued assistance with focus given toincreasing the quality of the this sector, especially in terms of analysis and advocacy,at least through the distribution of findings to a wide as possible audience to provide aknowledge based discussion.28