Security Sector Governance in the Arab Region - What Role for the Civil Society?
Amman-Under the patronage of His Excellency Mr. Nayef Al Qadi the Jordanian Minister of Interior, the Foundation for the Future is holding a regional conference on” Security Sector Governance in the Arab Region: What Role for the Civil Society?”. This conference will take place during 22 and 23 June 2009 and in cooperation with the Geneva based Center for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the Institute of Law (IoL) at Birzeit University.
A number of distinguished personalities from the Arab region and the rest of the world participate in the conference with the leading roles of His Excellencies former Prime Ministers Mr. Ahmad Obeidat, Mr. Taher Al Masri and Dr. Adnan Badran. In addition, Mr. Mohammed Ali Kouman, the Secretary General of the Arab Council of the Ministers of Interior will take part in the conference as a keynote speaker. Other important personalities from outside the region include Dr. Cornellio Somaroga the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for the Future, Ms. June Ray, Head, Civil Society Unit at the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Michel Tubiana, President of the French League for Human Rights and Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director of Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency
The idea of this conference came around by the fact that security is no longer exclusively defined in militaristic terms with the growing acceptance of the concept of human security and the spread of democratic principles where security has the potentials to be seen as a public service alike any other service delivered by the state – such as health care or education. The main objective of the conference is to shed light on the important role civil society organizations can play in the improvement of security sector as essential partners in that respect.
The conference, which will entail nine sessions throughout the two days to discuss the following topics and several other case studies of valid experiences from the region and outside:
- What Role for Civil Society Organisations in Enhancing Public Oversight of the Security Sector?
- Human Rights and Security Sector Oversight
- What Role for Civil Society Organisations in Enhancing Public Oversight of the Security Sector?
- What Role for Civil Society Organisations in Budgeting for the Security Sector?
- Civil society and Legislative Development (Parliamentary Capacity Building)
- What Role for Civil Society Organizations in Promoting the Integration of Gender Issues in Security Sector Reform?
- Research & Information as a Tool for Strengthening Good Governance of the Security Sector
- How Can Training Strengthen and Reinforce Oversight of the Security Sector?
- What Role for the Media in Ensuring Oversight of the Security Sector?
