Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 05/2009

Strengthening Security Sector Governance in West Africa

Jake Sherman

March 2009

Center on International Cooperation

Abstract

Across West Africa, the absence of effective, democratic governance of the security sector has been a significant casual factor of state fragility or civil war. Jake Sherman, Lead Researcher for CIC 's Security Sector Reform project, funded by the Royal Government of Norway, undertook a comparative study of legislative oversight of security sector reform (SSR) in West Africa during 2008.