Past Libra events

This is a record of previous Libra Knowledge Network events, meetings and seminars, including downloadable meeting reports.

Wilton Park Conference – Tuesday 22 - Friday 25 September 2009

Libra helped organise the Wilton Park conference on ‘Building local capacity for security and rule of law in fragile and conflict-affected states’. Senior officials and leading experts from the UN, EU, OECD, OSCE, and twenty-eight North American, African, European, and Asian countries gathered at Wilton Park to examine approaches for strengthening the provision of security and justice in developing and conflict-affected states. The conference featured detailed discussions between speakers and participants from international donors and stakeholders in host countries, with an important focus on how host nations and communities can effectively make use of donor assistance to address their capacity needs and take ownership of security and justice sector development.

Speakers at the conference included UN Assistant Secretary-General Dmitry Titov; Kabineh Ja'neh, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia; Phil Marker, Head of Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department, DFID; Ali Jalali, former Afghan Interior Minister and Distinguished Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies; Kevin O'Keefe, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of US State for Political-Military Affairs; and Fiaz Toru, Additional Chief Secretary for Home and Tribal Affairs, Government of North West Frontier Province, Pakistan.

A copy of the programme is available here

Building security & justice institutions in conflict-affected environments

During spring and summer 2009, under the theme ‘Building security & justice institutions in conflict-affected environments’, Libra co-organised a series of seminars with the Centre of Defence Studies, Department of War Studies, King’s College London, which has led academic research and teaching in this area. The seminars will focus on three of the most difficult environments for security development – Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian Territories. The aim of the seminars is to bring together practitioners, academics and policy makers to learn lessons from these experiences.

• Building security & justice institutions in conflict-affected environments: Learning from Iraq
Thursday 30th April 2009 12:00 – 13:30 pm. Click here for a full report of the seminar.

• Building security & justice institutions in conflict-affected environments: Learning from Afghanistan
Wednesday 8th July 2009 17:30 – 19:00 pm. Click here for a full report fo the seminar.

Achieving Sustainable Stability in Iraq: Planning Beyond the Surge (February 2008)

In 2007, Iraq seemed set on an irreversible spiral into all-out sectarian civil war. A year on, political violence was significantly down, extremists were under pressure, and political accommodations of various forms were in reach.

At the same time, however, the progress that had been made was extremely fragile. National-level political reconciliation appeared as distant as ever, the Iraqi state lacked capacity and legitimacy, armed groups vied for power in Iraq’s semi-governed spaces, and Iraq’s neighbours and militias were merely biding their time until Coalition withdrawals allowed them to escalate once again.

In February 2008, a Libra Knowledge Network meeting brought together a select group of knowledgeable experts to discuss some of the key issues that would shape and inform the Coalition approach for 2008-9. For further information, please contact us.

Broadening the Base: The Non-State Role in Security (January 2008)

Despite the billions of pounds ploughed into the security sectors in Afghanistan, Iraq and Sierra Leone, the majority of everyday disputes in these countries are dealt with largely by informal means rather than through the formal state funded justice and security system. This is both for reasons of pragmatism – accessing the nearest police post or magistrate might involve a lengthy and difficult journey for many people – but also trust. Customary structures based on long and ingrained clan and familial ties have more legitimacy and proven ability. These countries are not isolated examples: research suggests that close to 85% of disputes in the developing world are solved without recourse to a police post or a court.

If this is the case, why is it that donors and international organisations concentrate almost exclusively on reforming state institutions while ignoring informal structures? Should they not be paying commensurate attention to the non-state sector, where the vast majority of disputes are actually resolved? Or is this too risky, ergo making concentrating on state structures a wise policy choice?

This is not a problem solely for development agencies. Many businesses work in areas in which the state us unable to supply justice and security. How do they interact with non-state actors? How should they interact with non-state actors?

In January 2008, Libra Knowledge Network brought together experts to present ideas and share experiences on working with the non-state sector.

Bruce Baker is Professor of African politics at Coventry University and a world-renowned authority on non-state justice. Robin Campbell is an independent consultant on policing issues, bringing decades of experience to the subject. Click here for a report of the meeting.

The Private Sector and Security & Justice Sector Reform (November 2007)

In November 2007 Libra Knowledge Network held its inaugural meeting on the subject "Security & Justice Sector Reform and Private Sector Change Management - what can each side learn from the other?". We brought together SJSR practitioners and management consultants to debate the issue and exchange ideas. Click here for a report of the meeting.

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