DCAF - Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance

This episode features Thammy Evans, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center, and reflects on Thammy’s significant contribution over the past 20 years to the fields of defence reform and governance, conflict prevention, and climate security - as one of the women who has helped build the field that we work in today.

Featuring Brendan Schulman, Vice President of Policy and Government Relations at Boston Dynamics, this episode unpacks the potential and challenges of integrating robotics and AI in law enforcement.

This episode features Ville Savoranta, Policy Officer with the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC) of the European External Action Service. Reflecting on youth, peace, and security, Ville recalls his experience working on the Finnish National Action Plan on youth, peace, and security at the Crisis Management Center in Finland, and the importance for youth organizations to drive forward negotiations, as well as how critical it is to integrate youth, peace, and security in the planning and design of EU civilian CSDP missions, including identifying opportunities for entry-level experts in missions.

Hervé Auffret, Senior Security Sector Reform advisor with DCAF, joins us in this podcast episode on the subject of defence reform.  Hervé's expertise as an SSR advisor, and as a former member of the French Navy, guides the discussion on a people-centred approach to defence. This podcast series, “Donors Talk SSR”, is hosted by DCAF’s International Security Sector Advisory Team and it aims to unpack different themes and practices within security sector governance and reform.

This episode features Georgia Hinds, Legal Adviser on New Technologies of Warfare in the Arms and Conduct of Hostilities Unit at the ICRC. Through the lens of her work at the ICRC, Georgia unpacks the “black box” of artificial intelligence, looking at the challenges of integrating AI in autonomous weapons systems, and what this means for the conduct of warfare and security governance.

This episode features our Justice Advisor, Shahzada Ahmad. Shahzada has over 15 years of experience in development and has worked across many contexts on legal framework reforms, rule of law, and access to justice.

In this episode, Shahzada explores the emerging role of digitalisation and new technologies in justice reform, looking at success stories, challenges, and what international partners need to consider when supporting digitalisation projects related to justice reform.

The third episode of Donors Talk SSR features DCAF ISSAT’s Head of Advisory Field Support and Senior SSR Advisor, Dr. Anicia Lala. It is hosted by DCAF ISSAT’s Head of Outreach and Knowledge, Elsa Salame Dazin. This episode pays tribute to Anicia’s significant contributions over the past 25 years to the fields of security, justice, governance, democratisation, peacebuilding, and conflict prevention, particularly in Africa. As one of the women who has helped build the field that we work in today, she recalls her engagement as an advisor at the Mozambican Ministry of Defence, her contribution to founding the African Security Sector Network, as well as her role as a key expert in African civil-military dialogues that pre-dated the emergence of SSR. Her expertise contributed to so many organizations' achievements, including the first-ever global facilitation network on SSR (GFN-SSR), and to multilaterals such as the AU, EU, UN, OECD, ECOWAS, and SADC. Through this podcast, Dr. Lala reflects on how SSR has developed in the African continent, including the persisting opportunities to continue to build momentum for change, and create opportunities for innovative solutions.

To commemorate International Women’s Day on 8 March 2023, DCAF created a podcast that discussed the importance of gender equity in security, via a conversation with two senior operational commanders in the Honduran National Police. Both of these commanders underwent training from DCAF in 2022 on the subject and have been tasked by the Police Education Department to cascade the training within their operational units. The officers discuss why it is important for men to stand up and champion gender equity, demonstrating why International Women’s Day should be commemorated by all.

 IN SPANISH

The episode recognizes the history of women police officers and their role in gender equality's expansion and consolidation in the Honduran National Police. With the participation of Comisionada Sulma Reyes and Sub-Comisionada Persis Zaldivar, their stories and more than 20 years of experience in the Police help us understand that gender equality depends on the daily actions to respect human rights of all persons regardless of their gender, sexual orientation and identity. 

The second episode features our SSR Advisor, Viola Csordas. Viola’s work has focused on the link between SSG/R and livelihood issues such as climate and environmental security, disaster reduction, and food security. In this episode, Viola shares insights and on-the-ground examples to highlight the important role the security and justice sector must play in ensuring basic human needs as well as ways in which the international community can operationalise the triple nexus.

This podcast was launched on International Men’s Day in 2021 and focuses on the role of male police officers in improving gender equity in policing. With insights from a senior Honduran Police Officer and a senior Colombian Police Officer, moderated by an international expert on the topic, the officers discuss the importance of men taking responsibility to improve gender balance within large police institutions, their individual experiences and why gender equity can only be achieved if everyone steps up.

These two podcasts - "Community Policing Model in Honduras - Part 1" and "Community Policing Model in Honduras - Part 2" - are an opportunity for Honduran National Police Officers with decades of experience to talk about their individual and institutional understanding of what it means to deliver Community Policing in Honduras. They talk through specific examples as well as concepts, offering insights from the strategic to the operational, based on lived experience in a fragile and high-violence context.

These two podcasts - "Community Policing Model in Honduras - Part 1" and "Community Policing Model in Honduras - Part 2" - are an opportunity for Honduran National Police Officers with decades of experience to talk about their individual and institutional understanding of what it means to deliver Community Policing in Honduras. They talk through specific examples as well as  concepts, offering insights from the strategic to the operational, based on lived experience in a fragile and high-violence context.