About the Libra Advisory Group

What We Do

Libra Advisory Group specialises in security and justice sector modernisation and reform and stabilisation and conflict prevention. Within these two sectors our services include programme design, implementation and management, institutional development and reform, institutional capacity building, training, monitoring & evaluation and advisory services.

Our founding Directors, core staff and associates are individuals with front-line delivery experience in challenging environments and with high-level advisory expertise, ensuring operational relevance in both policy and implementation for our client organisations. Through our network of proven experts we are able to draw on relevant expertise from across the security, justice and development sectors.

Libra Advisory Group has established close, effective relationships with donor governments - including the UK, Netherlands and the US - host governments, academia, NGOs, and key elements of the wider international community. This not only allows us access to the most current thinking across governments, academia and the international community but also enables us to link individuals and organisations across security, justice and broader stabilisation fields to mutual benefit.

Our work is continually refined by systematic review of our field experience combined with ongoing research, analysis and up-to-date knowledge of academic theory. The Libra Knowledge Network acts as the mechanism for this process of review and learning.

How We Do It

Our strategies are tailored to the unique requirements of every client and project. In all cases, our team seeks to strip the problem down to its root causes and to devise solutions which not only meet the client’s immediate objectives, but put in place a lasting framework for ongoing success.

We listen to our clients in order to gain a thorough understanding of their requirements. We then put together a dedicated project team led directly by one of our Directors. We consult and communicate with our clients at every stage of a project to ensure its running as a genuine partnership.

Programmes are planned on the basis of staged, measurable objectives and we work to achieve sustainable, long-term local change wherever we operate.

Who We Are

The five founding Directors - Piet Biesheuvel, Rohan Burdett, Alex Martin, Andrew Rathmell and Peter Wilson - have over 80 years of combined experience in international development, security and justice sector reform, stabilisation, policing, intelligence and policy planning. Each Director has frontline operational experience in the security and justice sector, as well as a track record of substantial policy development. Our Directors have long-standing relationships with donor governments, particularly the UK Government, having worked extensively with HMG Departments on a broad range of projects. Libra’s Directors all hold or have held high-level security clearances.

Our six core staff - Mayssa Daye, Karen Ely, Vicky Gilliard, Tania Mechlenborg, Rebecca Schoob and Annabel Taylor - share a range of expertise in international development, security and justice sector reform, stabilisation policy and planning, conflict prevention, and humanitarian co-ordination. Highly motivated professionals, our skills and expertise augment Libra’s capabilities.

Libra draws upon a team of highly qualified, international associates. In addition to being justice and security experts all our associates are experienced development practitioners. Their work is conducted in accordance with development best-practice, including a consistent focus on local ownership, joint project management and a comprehensive approach to stabilisation and security and justice modernisation and reform.

It is this combination of technical excellence and international development experience which sets Libra’s personnel apart. Our programmes are conceived and implemented in support of national development policy, taking into account the need for a cross-sectoral approach and in-line with other donor programmes. Through Libra Knowledge Network our associates develop and share best-practice, record lessons learned and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on security and justice sector reform.

Where We Work

Libra works in a breadth of conflict-affected, fragile and developing countries. Please see Libra’s Projects around the World for an overview of where we have been and currently are working.

Ethos

Libra Advisory Group believes in an evolutionary approach to security and justice sector reform that recognises the fundamental importance of local ownership in all aspects, from the reform process itself to the security and justice system it produces. In seeking to deliver sustainable development, our methodology is democratic, pragmatic, incremental and rooted in the needs of local owners.

Libra is committed to the evolution of theory and practice in security and justice sector reform, stabilisation and to strengthening the relationship between theory and practice. We believe in a process of continual refinement and improvement through research and analysis, cross-fertilisation of ideas between practitioners and academics, as well as learning and incorporating the lessons derived from projects through the exchange of ideas. For more information on how we seek to achieve this, see the Libra Knowledge Network.

Latest News

Reframing Security Sector Reform for Counterinsurgency – Getting the Politics Right

Operationalising the Comprehensive Approach

Security Sector Evolution: Understanding & Influencing How Security Sector Institutions Change