To increase security as perceived and experienced by local communities in fragile and conflict-affected environments, Cordaid and the Conflict Research Unit (CRU) of Clingendael have started a joint research program called: “Improving Community Security program design: Better evidence, stronger engagement and deeper learning”. The one-year program has started in January and entails desk research as well as proposed field research in Afghanistan and South Sudan.

This joint effort aspires to further increase the evidence base of community security work, enhance knowledge development and, above all, help local communities to improve their own security situation.

The overall aim of the research is to improve support to local projects that seek to increase security as perceived by local communities. More specifically the aims are:

• To identify political and socioeconomic factors that influence community security in fragile settings;

• To identify methods used to gather information on these factors;

• To develop concrete and practical suggestions to improve the processes through which support packages for local community security programs are selected and developed.

As the core vision of this research is improved community security programming, broader participation and sharing of the research findings, CRU and Cordaid collaborated with the Knowledge Platform on Security and Rule of Law (KPSRL) in the organization of a participatory validation event on 18 June. The Knowledge Platform awarded a proposal from Cordaid and CRU to enable the expert practitioners from Afghanistan, South Sudan and other relevant areas to come to the Netherlands for this event.

During the event the first findings of the desk-study and underlying assumptions were discussed, validated and further sharpened in two rounds of working groups. The selected participants were able to help CRU and Cordaid to provide critical input based on their practical experiences for the research program. They shared their knowledge and experiences from the practitioners and academic view.

Participants agreed that security is experienced primary at a community and a local level. However, often security is determined at a political level. This political facet is often under-recognized or under valued. Community security is seen as an entitlement, but this entitlement is distributed unevenly, often to uphold a system of order. Often the people on the ground are not being heard at all and they have no say in their personal security.

The discussions between the different actors active in the community security field allowed us to go to the next phase of the research. This second phase is the field research which will be done in South Sudan and Afghanistan.

CRU and Cordaid believe that improving security programming as such is an important step forward in the development world. As participants put it: “This is truly a courageous undertaking.”

Cordaid and CRU will create the possibility to share these findings and experiences with the wider KPSRL community and wider related development work audience. We therefore aspire to hold local and international knowledge sharing events at the end of this year.

If you are interested in receiving more information or if you want to contribute relevant experiences, then please do so by contacting: Rob Sijstermans., Expert Security & Justice at Cordaid, rob.sijstermans@cordaid.nl