Activities in North Africa / Egypt

An international conference held in Montreux (Switzerland) from 2 to 5 April 2014 examined current relationships between the armed forces and civil authorities in Egypt. The Geneva Centre for the Security Sector Governance(DCAF), the organiser of the conference, brought together experts on civil-military relations from four continents. The conference discussions concluded that civil-military relations are essential to Egypt’s future. They will directly impact political reconciliation, the functioning of state institutions and civil society, citizen security, and human rights. The conference further concluded that Egypt's prospects for economic recovery and social stability would be bleak if relationships between its civilian and military institutions were not redefined and rendered consistent with existing international standards.

The conference recommended that Egypt task a non-partisan transition team to create an inclusive platform in order to discuss the development of a new vision of civil-military relations. The conference also recommended that DCAF should establish an international working group to promote information exchange on civil-military relations in Egypt.

Egypt's armed forces presently enjoy widespread domestic support. International experts at the conference expressed their belief that the armed forces should capitalize on this support by building bridges with civilian institutions and organizations. By doing so, they could help Egypt find a path out of its current crisis and restore its international standing.

You can download the conference report here.

For more information , please contact:

Mr Andrea Cellino

Head of North Africa Desk

+41 22 730 9532

a.cellino@dcaf.ch

Marsad Egypt – the online Security Sector Observatory

In June 2014, DCAF launched an online observatory – Marsad – to monitor security sector developments in Egypt: www.marsad.eg and www.marsad-egypt.info

Marsad Egypt is a bi-lingual (Arabic and English) website that covers information and issues related to the Egyptian security sector and its actors. Marsad seeks to contribute to an informed and inclusive debate on security sector governance. Marsad Egypt operates on a non-partisan and independent basis.

DCAF welcomes any feedback and comments on the content and structure of Marsad Egypt via info@marsad.eg and contact@marsad-egypt.info

Members area

Welcome to the DCAF Trust Fund for North Africa website

Since 2011, many countries in the Middle East and North Africa have lived through extraordinary and turbulent political changes.

In their search for a better future, countries in North Africa have identified security sector reform as a key to ensure democratic transition, to restore public confidence in the state and its institutions, and to prevent violence.

To respond to these changes, the member states of the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) in 2012 created the Trust Fund for North Africa.

The Trust Fund’s purpose is to rapidly and flexibly respond to requests for assistance from the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Morocco.

To name a few examples, the Trust Fund assists with comprehensive programmes and projects to improve parliamentary oversight, strengthen citizens access to information, put in place accountability mechanisms and generally to build trust between citizens and authorities.