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Security Sector Reform (SSR) at the United Nations
What is SSR
Armed forces, police, border guards, and other security institutions: elemental for security, sustaining peace and development. They stabilize, protect, and provide relief. But when poorly regulated, unaccountable, or sourced for political gain, the security sector becomes a liability instead of a force for good.
Security sector reform is the work undertaken by a government and its people to make the country's security institutions serve its citizens and provide people-centered security. Accountable institutions that contribute to the rule of law, improve lives and livelihoods for all.
What We Do
Providing genuine security to any population is a meaningful assignment, central to the United Nations Charter. The United Nations supports nationally led security sector reform. Our goal is to help states and societies develop effective, inclusive, and accountable security institutions that contribute to national and international security and sustainable development.
What's Happening
Policy Brief Series on Good Governance in National Security
Read our latest Policy Brief, “Inclusion of Women Builds Trust and Legitimacy," authored by Megan Bastick, Gender and Security Fellow at DCAF – Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance. The brief examines why gender equality in the security sector is not only a matter of fairness but a critical factor for conflict prevention, societal resilience, and institutional legitimacy.
Don’t miss out on our previous Brief, "International Funding in Fragile Contexts", authored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and "Sharing Authority, Legitimacy, Capacity: Informal Security Providers“, authored by the African Security Sector Network (ASSN).
These publications are part of our Policy Brief Series on Good Governance in National Security.
Statement from the Co-chairs of the Group of Friends of Security Sector Reform on the 22 October 2025 Meeting of the Group of Friends
On Wednesday, 22 October 2025, the United Nations Group of Friends of Security Sector Reform (SSR) met at an Ambassadorial-level to discuss the future of United Nations support to SSR. Please find the statement from the co-chairs here.
In Case You Missed It
CROSSROADS Practical Guidance
Read our newly released CROSSROADS Module 10.7 Transnational Organized Crime and SSR. Jointly developed with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), this module dives into how TOC threats to peace, security, and development, and how Security Sector Reform can help.
Voices on SSR and Peacekeeping
In light of the 2025 Berlin United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial (United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 | United Nations Peacekeeping), we are sharing a few voices on how SSR makes peacekeeping more effective and safer.