Abstract
Ebola has provided the greatest test of the Sierra Leonean security sector – and, in turn, of the UK-led reforms of the past ten-to-fifteen years. The performance of the country's security forces at the height of the crisis suggests that there are sound structures in place; however, Ebola has shown that the Government of Sierra Leone's national security architecture still lacks maturity in responding to such a scenario. Drawing on first-hand interviews with advisers on the ground, this article explores the Sierra Leone government’s response to the Ebola crisis and the performance of the security sector so far, within the wider context of UK-led security-sector reform (SSR) since the end of the civil war. In doing so, it highlights a number of lessons to have emerged from the crisis, exploring what these reveal about the nature of the reforms implemented since the end of the country's civil war. In turn, it explores what these suggest for future SSR, which continues to be a core component of the UK’s approach to development and overseas capacity-building.
Highlights
As the Sierra Leone government – and its international supporters – look ahead to addressing the socio-economic implications of the outbreak (Sierra Leone Times 2015; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2015),2 it is important that they look back to determine the lessons to be learned
As the Sierra Leone government – and its international supporters – look ahead to addressing the socio-economic implications of the outbreak (Sierra Leone Times 2015; UNDP 2015),2 it is important that they look back to determine the lessons to be learned. These must cover every aspect of the response (MSF 2015; IDS 2015) from the more obvious health dimensions involved in treating patients, to establishing controls to contain the spread of the disease, a central part of which, in Sierra Leone, has been enforcement by security forces
As the number of cases subsides and the government increasingly pursues long-term recovery, it is crucial that lessons from the experience are drawn out in full, to aid the further development of Sierra Leone’s security sector and guide the efforts of external actors, most notably the UK through International Security Advisory Team (ISAT) and DfID, in seeking to assist with this
Summary
As the Sierra Leone government – and its international supporters – look ahead to addressing the socio-economic implications of the outbreak (Sierra Leone Times 2015; UNDP 2015),2 it is important that they look back to determine the lessons to be learned. Art. 38, page 7 of 15 to peace support operations in Sudan and Somalia – a significant achievement given that as recently as 2002 there were 17,500 peacekeepers in Sierra Leone itself, the largest-ever UN deployment.28 As noted by former Commander of IMATT Colonel Jamie Martin, ‘they’ve turned that around in ten years and are exporting UN peacekeepers’ (Godwin and Haenlein 2013) – a development that the former RSLAF Chief of the Defence Staff, Brigadier Alfred-Nelson Williams, described as ‘payback .
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