Institute for Security Studies (ISS)

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Head and Pretoria Office
PO Box 1787, Brooklyn Square, Pretoria, 0075
Block C, Brooklyn Court, New Muckleneuck, Pretoria

Phone: +27 012 346 9500
Fax: +27 012 460 0998/7

Email: iss@issafrica.org
Website: http://www.issafrica.org

Dr Jakkie Cilliers, Executive Director Email: jcilliers@issafrica.org
Ms Doris Murimi, Deputy Director Email: dmurimi@issafrica.org

Cape Town Office
Mr Peter Gastrow
Office Director
67 Roeland Square, Drury Lane Gardens
Cape Town 8001, South Africa

Phone: +27 021 461 7211
Fax: +27 021 461 7213

Email: capetown@issafrica.org / pgastrow@issafrica.org

Addis Ababa Office
Mr Kenneth Mpyisi
Office Director
First Floor, Ki-Ab Building
Alexander Pushkin Street, Pushkin Square, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
P.O. Box 2329 , Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Phone: +251 11 372 1154/5
Fax: +251 11 372 5954

Email: addisababa@issafrica.org / kmpyisi@issafrica.org

Nairobi Office
Mr Peter Edopu
Office Director
5th floor, Landmark Plaza, Argwings Kodhek Road, Nairobi
P.O. Box 12869 GPO 00100, Nairobi Kenya

Tel: +254 20 3005726/28
Mob: +254 727 288220

Email: pedopu@issafrica.org /nairobi@issafrica.org

Description

ISS was established in 1991 to promote a stable and peaceful Africa characterized by sustainable development, human rights, rule of law, and democracy. It pursues this vision by:

• Undertaking applied research, training and capacity building;
  
• Working collaboratively with others;
  
• Facilitating and supporting policy formulation;
  
• Monitoring trends and policy implementation;
  
• Collecting, interpreting and disseminating information;
  
• Networking on national, regional and international levels.

ISS’s mission is to conceptualize, inform and enhance the debate on human security in Africa in order to support policy formulation and decision-making at every level towards the enhancement of human security for all in Africa. The Institute views itself as a regional, as opposed to South African, organization. Its long-term vision is to establish a pan-African policy research institute able to support African peace and security at every level with the capacity to take African views professionally and competently into the international arena.

The Institute is organized in offices, programs and projects. Institute engagement currently covers the following areas: Conflict analysis in sub-Saharan Africa; Security sector reform in Africa; Crime and justice issues in South Africa; Aids and the military in Africa; Arms control and proliferation of small arms (including landmines); Understanding the private security sector in Africa; Reconciliation in Burundi; Support to the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand; SADC and the SIPO/human security concept; Peacekeeping–concepts; CivPol training; Corruption and governance in Africa; Natural resource extraction in Eastern Africa; Organized crime & money laundering; NEPAD APRM process; Counter-terrorism in the Horn of Africa; Various civil society networks; Conflict prevention and the AU; Trafficking of people in Southern Africa; and Weapons of mass destruction and Africa.

The African Human Security Initiative (AHSI) brings together a group of prominent African think-tanks that explore peace and security issues and engage in a process complementary to the NEPAD APRM on crime and justice issues (http://www.africanreview.org). AHSI was set up in two phases. AHSI 1 provided for a core network of 7 established African NGOs to benchmark the performance of 8 African governments on human security issues, measured against the commitments taken at the level of OAU/AU heads of state meetings. This served as a process of ‘shadow peer review’ to NEPAD’s African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). The project research complements that of the APRM (which does not include a focus on human security) although there is overlap with the NEPAD APRM areas in respect of democracy and human rights.

The follow-on project, AHSI 2, commenced in late 2006 and is located in Nairobi. Its purpose is to complement the formal NEPAD APRM process with a focus on the criminal justice system in five countries identified for APRM review, working with local partners in each country. Current AHSI partners are the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), Southern Africa Human Rights Trust (SAHRIT), and West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), African Security Dialogue and Research (ASDR), African Peace Forum (APFO) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

SalaamNet (http://www.salaamnet.org), run from ISS’s Addis Ababa office, is an open-ended network of African CSOs engaged in conflict prevention working towards the AU. SalaamNet emerged from a meeting held in Addis Ababa in late 2006, with the broad aim of working together to provide in-depth information and analysis to inform and complement the efforts of the AU and its peace and security system and Africa’s partners to prevent and mitigate severe conflicts that undermine human security in Africa. Composed largely of civil society organizations, SalaamNet is envisaged to play a complementary role to other continental initiatives, including the work of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the AU (ECOSOCC).

SalaamNet is conceived as an Africa-wide conflict prevention consortium of African civil society, research and educational institutions. Much of its work will be targeted at the Continental Early Warning System that is in the process of being established in Addis Ababa under the auspices of the AU. It also aims to engage constructively with the peace and security mechanisms of RECs and African states represented in the PSC. The intention is that SalaamNet members undertake field-based research and analysis, leading to quality, credible and balanced reports and realistic policy options to support the policy-making processes in the areas of peace and security by the AU, African states, RECs and Africa’s external partners.

The African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA) is run from ISS’s Pretoria office. This is an AU mandated network of African peacekeeping training institutions that build the capacity of the African Standby Force (http://www.apsta-africa.org).

Track Record

ISS boasts a number of achievements. First, it is able to work with governments, regional organizations and international partners while retaining its independence. This has opened up the space for greater relevance for policy research work. For example, the Institute serves as the implementation agency for a comprehensive counter-terrorism program in the Horn of Africa that implements an IGAD heads of state decision. ISS earlier partnered with the OAU/AU in the development of the African position on landmines (the Kempton Park process), small arms (the Bamako process), combating terrorism (culminating in the Algiers High Level Action plan), etc.

Currently the Institute serves as key partner and secretariat to the Committee on International Relations and Conflict Resolution of the Pan African Parliament. ISS support to the committee has enabled it to develop concrete and realistic reports and recommendations as input to the AU Summit in July of each year. In collaboration with the Eastern African Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (EAPCCO) we recently facilitated the drafting of a draft Protocol on the Prevention, Combating and Eradication of Cattle Rustling in Eastern Africa and will shortly partner with EAPCCO in the implementation of the provisions of the protocol over a number of years—funds for this are to be raised through a donor meeting in Nairobi.

Second, ISS claims credit for the increased acceptance that security is a legitimate area of engagement for all Africans—not only an area for the exclusive domain of governments. ISS partners on a regular basis in various meetings and projects with a diverse group of organizations including EAPCCO, the Southern African Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (SAPRCCO), the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA), and the African Union. Beyond this capacity building support, ISS has signed memoranda of support with IGAD, COMESA, and other RECs. A recent development is its growing work with African parliaments in SADC and Eastern Africa, on issues related to corruption, organized crime and civil-military relations.

ISS has partnered with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Transparency International on supporting African Parliamentarians and Civil Society in implementing the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the African Union Anti-Corruption Convention. ISS also work on the implementation of the SADC Protocol Against Corruption in Southern Africa and has provided high-level briefings for policy and decision makers as well as law enforcement agencies at the senior and strategic levels in South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia.

Third, ISS has been instrumental in fostering the increased acceptance, in practice and policy, of the concept of human security as apposed to state security in a number of countries, regional organizations and groups. Institutions such as the Mozambique Police Academy (ACIPOL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute, which will shortly seek to raise funds to undertake extensive work on the criminal justice system in Mozambique as well as to provide advanced training to police students. ISS also trains police from the SADC region at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Botswana.

Fourth, ISS has a proven ability to build the capacity of and to effectively partner with various civil society networks. Achievements here range from combating of corruption, natural resource extraction—all of which are advocacy based—using its analytical work to input into third party campaigning. Examples of such partnerships include AHSI, SalaamNet, APSTA (see above), and SmallArmsNet.

Fifth, ISS is increasingly being recognized as being of international relevance—reflected in a website that now receives more than 2 million hits a month and growing requests for ISS partnerships with established centers outside of Africa. There are increased requests for the Institute to partner with research institutes in Europe, North America, China and elsewhere. During the last year, ISS has been involved in collaborative projects with the Institute for Public Policy Research in London, the Stiftung Wissenshaft und Politik in Berlin, the German Development Institute in Bonn, the Egbert Institute in Brussels, the North-South Institute in Ottawa, SwissPeace in Berne, and the International Peace Research Centre (Oslo).

Sixth, ISS prides itself on an institutional culture of delivery and competence within a regionally diverse organization. During 2005 the Institute commissioned an external stakeholders review and used the results to improve its outreach and management systems. During 2006 it embarked upon a process of benchmarking Institute salaries and remuneration. In 2007 it will focus on management training and development. ISS runs a large intranet as a key management tool, an integrated Institute-wide electronic diary, and has in place an extensive set of internal policies and procedures that guide its internal administrative and management practices.

Seventh, ISS highlights the increased relevance of its conflict analysis reports and seminar series on African issues at various levels. These are generally the result of field research trips to African countries. The ISS conflict analysis team gave over 100 briefings in 2006 to various embassies, visiting researchers and dignitaries including the South Africa Department of Foreign Affairs and to the African Diplomatic Corp in Pretoria, and appeared in the media more than 600 times that year.

Eighth, ISS is receiving more and more requests for capacity building and has developed an increased ability to respond. ISS has trained staff of the AU’s early warning situation room, and helped develop the roadmap on the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) as well as that on the African Standby Force. It has also provided training to the Nigerian presidency on the establishment of a human security early warning system. Through the establishment of the APSTA ISS is bringing African civil society and African government institutions together in the provision of peacekeeping training for the African Standby Force. It has received requests to build capacity and train peacekeepers for deployment in Darfur, Sudan. ISS also provides HIV/AIDS training to various agencies in Southern Africa, and runs a regional course on violence against women and children.

Challenges

ISS faces the overarching challenge of securing sustainable, predictable funding, and considers the development of an endowment and ability to generate own income from publications as key to its future effectiveness.

Ensuring effective management across four countries also constitutes a serious challenge. ISS is hampered in this regard by poor infrastructure—such as printing quality, internet access, government regulations, and banking.

In view of the large volume of publications ISS produces each year (50-60 substantial publications) as well as a large number of electronic reports and newsletters, ensuring consistently high quality poses another a challenge.

Attracting and retaining high quality staff in all its offices is a perennial problem for ISS, even though it pays relatively well by comparative African standards.

Furthermore, the majority of funding ISS receives is project based, although in the course of 2006 the Institute received core funding from Sweden, Norway and Denmark, a new development that is temporary as funds are only available for one to two years. In addition to the above, ISS bilateral funders include Italy, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. Other funders include the Nordic Africa Institute, IDRC, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers, SADC, Save the Children, UNDP, UN University and UN Office for Project Services.

As at December 2006, ISS’s annual budget, spread across its 4 offices, totaled nearly ZAR 51 million (an estimated US$7.2 million).

Opportunities

Given the significant amount of resources ISS receives, it has little difficulty in terms of volume. However, the downside of this is that ISS has to spread itself thinly, taking on more and more initiatives. Sustainable, predictable core funding from private foundations would to enable the Institute to streamline its work, thereby rendering it more proactive and agenda-setting, reducing the transaction cost caused by multiple reporting, and enhancing its overall effectiveness.

In terms of institutional strengthening, ISS would like to establish a peace and security library in each of its offices that is also accessible to the general research community in these countries and beyond. Institutional development, including management training, is also considered an important priority. ISS has it in mind to be able to offer scholarships to its own staff, as an innovative way of building and retaining capacity. It also hopes to expand its internship program for young African researchers with potential.

The Institute currently owns one of the two buildings that it occupies in Pretoria, and would like to be in a position to purchase its own office accommodation in Cape Town, Nairobi and Addis Ababa, so as to reduce dependence on rental. In order to ensure consistent quality, ISS would benefit from support to that would allow the appointment of a professional editor.

ISS is looking into how best to establish an endowment fund in order to make all the above possible and ensure financial sustainability while reducing dependence on donors.