Course Introduction:
How can local actors improve human security and state security in conflict-affected areas? What challenges affect the local government’s ability to promote the rule of law? How can citizens be enabled to actively use the law? What are the most recent experiences in international Security Sector Reform policy frameworks? How can human security approaches be effective in the context of violent extremism? And how can inclusive local economic development contribute to stabilisation and sustaining peace? This two-week intensive blended training course will equip you with practical and academic insights to help you tackle these questions and work towards community security.
Conflict and its myriad forms — interstate war, intrastate rebellion, armed militias destabilizing a region, violent extremism or social exclusion — affect all, especially at the local level. Understanding the root causes and drivers of conflict is one of several steps necessary to ensure local security.
In this training, you will gain specific knowledge, tailored approaches and practical tools to help you conduct a thorough conflict and security analysis. International experts will guide the discussion to impart a better understanding of how stakeholders at the different levels of government can promote positive conflict transformation.
Specific attention will be given to the concept of community security and its underlying principles. Using a diverse set of case studies, along with interactive workshop sessions, you will learn how to develop and implement a security plan.
Security at the local level can only be reached with an integrated approach focusing on immediate quick-wins and sustainable long-term solutions. Not only the security and justice sector, but all actors at the different governance layers play an essential role in achieving this goal. The course will take place in The Hague from 21 September to 16 November 2020.
Course modality:
Due to the travel restrictions associated with the Coronavirus outbreak, the format of the course has been adjusted*.* We are now offering a practice-oriented blended course, consisting of two parts:
Online module: This module will consist of several assignments spread throughout the timeframe provided. This is an opportunity to learn about the topic (while enhancing your online skills in an innovative e-learning environment) and prepare you for the next part of the course.
Dates: 21 September to 30 October.
Face-to-Face course: Participants will spend eight days in The Netherlands, focusing on study visits, expert presentations and the exchange of experiences with other participants. We intend to offer this part of the training in 2020, but if this proves not to be possible, it will be postponed to 2021 at the earliest possibility.
Dates: 9 to 16 November.
Key Information
- This blended training will take place from 21 September to 16 November 2020, both online and in The Hague.
- The application deadline is 4 September 2020
- Group discounts are available if you participate with three or more colleagues.
- For general inquiries, please contact info@thehagueacademy.com or call +(31) 70 37 38 695.
Learning Objectives
The course will help you:
- understand the root causes and dynamics of conflict;
- increase knowledge of the different approaches and tools for conflict mapping and conduct a conflict analysis;
- gain more insight into the roles of different governmental, security and judicial institutions in conflict transformation and restoring security;
- reflect critically on the general notions of Rule of Law, its dilemmas and its implementation at the local level;
- understand the need for comprehensive security programming and community-driven approaches to reintegration, prevention of violent extremism, local economic development and social cohesion;
- apply the lessons learnt in the simulation exercise.
After successful completion of the course, you will receive a certificate from The Hague Academy for Local Governance.
Intended Audience
Professionals from government agencies, civil society, and non-governmental organisations, as well as international institutions, who have been working directly with or on issues related to conflict-affected areas.
Experts and Experience
Contributions to this course come from renowned experts and practitioners with extensive experience in the field of the rule of law and local security in conflict-affected settings. Case studies will focus on multiple contexts including, but not limited to Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Sudan, Syria, Indonesia and Kenya.
A field visit to the International Criminal Court will complement the curriculum and challenge your thinking of how the rule of law should restore local security.
Dion van den Berg Dion works as a senior policy advisor at Pax for Peace. His expertise concerns the promotion of interreligious dialogue, democratisation and peace activities notably in Srebrenica, Ukraine, Syria, DR Congo and South Sudan. Dion is a committed activist and outspoken advocate for peace who links everyday problems in towns and villages to the conflicts in faraway places. He has two principal fields of interest: democratisation and consolidation of peace, and religion and conflict. As a peace professional, he has worked with numerous municipalities and has written several publications about municipal peace policies.
Fulco van Deventer
Fulco is the deputy director of the Human Security Collective. In the last 10 years, he has focused mainly on civil society actors in conflict areas and fragile states and their role in conflict prevention and countering violent extremism. Fulco has experience as a consultant on governmental reform in the Caribbean Island States and on post-war reconstruction in Lebanon. He has also worked with a large variety of civil society organizations in Vietnam, India, Colombia, Guatemala, West-Africa and in the Middle East where he focused on building institutional capacity.
Irma Specht
Irma is an anthropologist with 24 years’ experience in the transition processes from conflict to peace. She has an international reputation in the field of socio-economic reintegration, youth employment, gender and conflict transformation. Seven years of field and headquarter experience in the ILO programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction has provided her with expertise on employment issues and the inclusion of vulnerable or special groups in transition processes. She brings solid expertise in capacity building and training, conflict analyses, strategy and programme design, and applied research. Her record as a researcher and writer is illustrated in her long publications list.
Brianne McGonigle Leyh
Brianne is an Associate Professor with Utrecht University’s Netherlands Institute of Human Rights where she specializes in human rights, transitional justice, victims’ rights, and international criminal law and procedure. She is an Executive Editor of the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, a member of the Utrecht Young Academy, and Senior Counsel with the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG). In 2011 she obtained her PhD from Utrecht University where she wrote her award-winning dissertation on victim participation in international criminal proceedings.
For questions or more information about this course, please direct your inquiry to the Programme Manager, Nicolas Haezebrouck at info@thehagueacademy.com or call +31(70) 37 38 695.
How to register:
Click here to register. The application deadline is 4 September 2020.