Human development and security sector reform: The examples of Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo

Security Sector Reform has become a central element in assisting post-conflict countries on their way out of conflict to lasting peace. Burgeoning literature explores many aspects of this transformation process. A strong emphasis has been placed on questions of program design and local ownership. In addition to these studies we add another dimension: the impact of human development. As Sector security reform is often applied to developing countries, the impact of human development conditions should be self-evident but has been given insufficient attention. For this reason this study explores the effect of human development in the form of education, welfare, and health on the performance of security forces in two long-term peacekeeping missions in Africa: Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We will show that the structural impact of human development conditions is significant and warrants more attention than currently received.