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“Security sector reform may sound technical, yet its direct impact on both security and millions of livelihoods is obvious. Its need becomes very real soldier or a police officer whose only calling should be to serve his country with integrity and honour, instead turns into a thug, using his uniform and weapon to spread fear and extort civilian populations,” said Permanent Representative of Lithuania Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaitė, delivering a statement in the United Nations Security Council open debate on security sector reform.

Ambassador noted that although originally perceived as element of peacekeeping exit strategies, security sector reform was now widely seen as an inseparable part of conflict prevention, peacebuilding and avoiding relapse into conflict. “It is also a vital element of the rule of law, which can hardly be achieved without a security sector that is accountable, effective, and responsive to the needs of the population,” said Lithuania’s representative.

In the statement Ambassador Murmokaitė stressed that long term national ownership was the key element for ensuring the legitimacy and sustainability of any security sector reform effort. National governments should undertake both sector wide initiatives and reform of individual components, complemented with horizontal measures, such as fighting corruption, strengthening governance and accountability and ensuring the protection of human rights.

 Ambassador Murmokaitė emphasized that to enhance the trust between the security institutions and the society, security sector reform should involve all parties to a conflict and all segments of society, including women, youth, and vulnerable groups. She also noted that all national stakeholders, including civil society, must be genuinely involved in the security sector reform process, since the trust between security institutions and the society at large could only be reinstated if past abuses did not go untold and proper accountability was ensured. In this respect the link between an effective, transparent SSR process and ensuring justice and accountability for past crimes is key.

The ambassador stressed the importance of monitoring and assessing particular security sector reform measures as a means to ensure their effectiveness.

As the outcome of the open debate the first stand-alone UN Security Council Resolution on SSR recognizing the national ownership of the process was adopted. Lithuania has co-sponsored this resolution.