Development is vital for achieving security. In many developing countries, due to armed conflict or violent crime, the security situation remains fragile. Violent actors often influence or even dominate political, social and economic life and impact negatively on people’s living conditions. The public security forces are inadequately trained to deal with such situations, thus doing little to de-escalate crisis and protect the country’s citizens effectively.

For development actors, too, working in such high risk environments can be challenging in terms of personnel security as well as realistic project outputs. As movement and implementation capacities are restricted, achieving the intended long-term developmental goals becomes increasingly difficult.

In these countries, GIZ seeks to contribute to security and stability by

• Strengthening police structures and assisting in reforming the police,
• Supporting regional organizations like the African Union or ECOWAS in order to strengthen regional cooperation for regional peace and security,
• Increasing the risk-sensitivity of country portfolios and development projects and
• Strengthening the civilian approaches and activities within the German concept of networked security.