Geneva, Switzerland (December 17, 2015) - Security sector reform (SSR) is an increasingly important topic on the agenda of international development, and peace and security communities. SSR opens a window of possibility to transform security policies and institutions, and provides opportunities to integrate gender issues.  The Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of the Armed Forces (DCAF)'s recent publishing of a Gender and Security Sector Reform Toolkit in Spanish greatly increases the reach of this important toolkit.  The toolkit is alos available in French, English, Arabic, Indonesian, Montenegrin and Russian.

The integration of gender issues is being recognised as a key to operational effectiveness, local ownership and strengthened oversight. For example, increasing the recruitment of female staff, preventing human rights violations, and collaborating with women’s organisations contribute to creating an efficient, accountable and participatory security sector, which responds to the specific needs of men, women, girls and boys.

Despite this recognition of the importance of integrating gender issues in SSR, there has been a lack of resources on the topic. This Toolkit is an initial response to the need for information and analysis on gender and SSR. It is designed to provide policymakers and practitioners with a practical introduction to why gender issues are important in SSR and what can be done to integrate them.

Each SSR context is unique. As such, the strategies and recommendations provided in the Toolkit may not always be directly applicable, and should always be adapted to the local context.

The Gender and Security Sector Reform Toolkit includes:

User Guide 

Thirteen Tools:
1. Security Sector Reform and Gender 
2. Police Reform and Gender 
3. Defence Reform and Gender 
4. Justice Reform and Gender 
5. Penal Reform and Gender 
6. Border Management and Gender 
7. Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender 
8. National Security Policy-Making and Gender 
9. Civil Society Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender 
10. Private Military and Security Companies and Gender 
11. SSR Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation and Gender 
12. Gender Training for Security Sector Personnel 
13. Implementing the Women, Peace and Security Resolutions in Security Sector Reform 

Thirteen Practice Notes (4 pages, based on the Tools):
Practice Note 1 
Practice Note 2 
Practice Note 3 
Practice Note 4 
Practice Note 5 
Practice Note 6 
Practice Note 7 
Practice Note 8 
Practice Note 9 
Practice Note 10 
Practice Note 11 
Practice Note 12 
Practice Note 13

For more information on the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of the Armed Forces, please visit http://www.dcaf.ch