Securing Development: Public Finance and the Security Sector

As members of a United Nations-World Bank team, we have developed a policy instrument aimed to help governments and international organizations assess the financial sustainability of defense, police, and courts in conflict-affected and fragile states. The security sector public expenditure review (PER) applies standard macroeconomic and public finance analysis to defense, policing, and criminal justice systems in countries affected by violent conflict. The PER treats security and defense through the perspective of public sector service delivery, extending good governance principles such as policy-based budgeting and allocative efficiency to security sector reform (SSR) processes. The PER promotes good governance through increased transparency and accountability of SSR financing. This methodology is explained in our 2017 book "Securing Development: Public Finance and the Security Sector." The French overview of the book is attached to this application. This work is based on security and justice PERs undertaken by the World Bank and United Nations in 20+ countries, including Mali, Niger, CAR, Somalia. We believe its main strenghs are (1) adopting a data and context-driven analysis rather than top-down best-practice approach; (2) breaking silos between security and public finance experts, thus reinforcing the link between security and development interventions; and (3) raising value for money of bilateral security assistance.