Past Libra events

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

RUSI/Libra Advisory Group Stabilisation Drinks Reception June 2010

The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies and Libra Advisory Group hosted a drinks reception on Friday 11 June in the RUSI Library of Military History.
The reception was a valuable networking opportunity for stabilisation subject-matter experts, practitioners and stake-holders. It also marked the release of RUSI’s latest Whitehall Report, addressing the UK’s approach to stabilising fragile states, by Richard Teuten, RUSI Senior Visiting Fellow (and former head of the Stabilisation Unit), and Daniel Korski from the European Council on Foreign Relations (and former head of the Basra Provincial Reconstruction Team).
The drinks reception took place directly after a high-level cross-government seminar organised by RUSI and supported by Libra’s co-founder, Andrew Rathmell. The seminar attendees, including participants from Parliament, MoD, FCO, DFID, Cabinet Office, the Stabilisation Unit, RUSI, academia and the private sector, also attended the reception.
Old and new friends of Libra Advisory Group attended to help celebrate the acquisition of Libra by Coffey International Development.

Ending Internal Conflict: Comparative Approaches to Stabilisation & Counter-Insurgency

Co-organised by Libra, and held between Monday 19th - Thursday 22nd July 2010, this Wilton Park conference asked;

- What have the experiences of developing countries been in confronting the challenges of violent internal conflict in the absence of an international security presence?

- How can developing country security forces, civilian agencies and political leaders work together most effectively to provide security, justice, social services and economic development in regions affected by internal conflict?

- How can international actors most usefully assist states facing domestic threats in manners that contribute to long-term peace-building?

Click here for a link to the conference programme.

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.

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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