National Security Strategy Development and Implementation in Africa

One of the core functions of any nation-state is to provide its own security as well as the security and safety of its citizens. Despite the inordinate resources allocated to the security sector, many states in Africa are becoming increasingly incapable of ensuring the security of all their citizens, and in some instances states themselves have become sources of insecurity. This growing insecurity, the emergence of new security threats, and a shift towards understanding security as security for all as opposed to regime or state security, all demonstrate a need for African governments to re-evaluate how to deliver security and safety to their citizens.
A well-designed and inclusive process for formulating national security strategy can facilitate the creation of a sound strategy. Such a process also enables decision-makers to make effective plans to address national security threats and to make long-term improvements in delivering security to the state and its citizens. It also ensures national ownership, inclusivity, and consensus, and it lays the groundwork for the internal and external partnerships that facilitate the implementation of national security strategy.
Based on its experience in socializing the concept of NSSD in all sub-regions of Africa, the Africa Center developed a toolkit entitled National Security Strategy Development in Africa: Toolkit for Drafting and Consultation. The main objective of this toolkit is to describe the common phases of the NSSD process, and it serves as a resource to aid national and regional stakeholders in African countries to craft or review their national
security strategies.
Click here for the Toolkit:
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• Do you know whether your country/region has a security strategy? If yes, do you know how it was developed, if citizens were engaged, or if it was approved by parliament? Is the document public?
• If your country/region does not have a security strategy, do you see any rationale for your country/region to have such a strategy? What would be the role of leadership in such a process?
• Who initiates the NSSD process and why? Who should be involved and consulted in the NSSD process, why, and at what stage of the process? Should the media, women, youth, and civil society be involved in the process, and if so, how?
• Should a security strategy be approved by the parliament and why? Should it be kept secret and why or why not?
Presented by:
Dr. Fairlie Chappuis
Mr. Osei Dickson
Click here for the Program webpage, with recommended readings and panelist biographies:
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