Establishment of the ISS Council and New ISS Logo Launch

Establishment of the ISS Council and New ISS Logo Launch 

The Institute for Security Studies held its annual end of year reception on 18 November 2004, during which the new ISS logo was launched. As part of the strategic planning process to reconstitute the ISS Advisory Board into an international Council that assists the Trustees in their work, the newly appointed members of the ISS Council were announced at the function. The Council will convene at the ISS Head Office in Pretoria on 19 November 2004 for its annual session. The members of the Council are:

Dr Salim Ahmed Salim
Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation, Tanzania
(Chairman of the Board)

Abdul Mohammed
UNICEF, Ethiopia

Ambassador Helena Nilsson
Ambassador of Sweden to South Africa

Professor Judy Wakhungu
African Centre for Technology Studies, Kenya

Mr KÃ¥re Aas
Deputy Director General, Foreign Affairs, Norway

Mr Gerd Linska
Hanns Seidel Foundation

Professor  Ramesh Thakur                                                        
United Nations University, Japan

Mr Saki Macaozoma
STANLIB, South Africa

Professor Deon Fourie
South Africa

Lt Gen L.M. Fischer
Commander of the Botswana Defence Force       

Key areas of engagement for the Institute during 2004

During the past year, the Institute has been working to support the establishment of the African Union’s African Standby Force. At a regional level the Institute has facilitated meetings on behalf of the regional organisation, IGAD, whose activities cover the Horn of Africa, on the establishment of the Eastern African Brigade that will form part of the ASF.

In the field of early warning, the ISS has been assisting the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) to make their early warning centre operational. This has included assisting with the provision of equipment and training of personnel. The ISS has recently had a request from ECOWAS to provide early warning training for seven of their personnel.

Next month UN Member States convene the first Review Conference of the Anti-personnel Landmine Ban Treaty. In September, the Institute provided resource people to the AU for the 2nd Continental Meeting of African Experts on Landmines and is working with the AU to publish the resulting African Common Position on Landmines in time for the Review Conference in Nairobi .

Terrorism remains a concern for many regions of this continent and the Institute continued its engagement with IGAD in the development of a Terrorism Plan of Action for the Horn of Africa. The ISS has been asked to work with IGAD as an implementing partner on this Plan.

The Institute takes its role as a civil society organisation working in Africa seriously and one way this is realises is through collaborative projects with other civil society organisations. In September the results of a year long research project were launched that undertook to monitor commitments by African Heads of States to African agreements. The research collaborative, eight organisations in seven countries in Africa, published a total of eight monographs on a range of issues, including small arms, terrorism and human rights.

The ISS was pleased to be recognised earlier this year for the contribution it has made to information on security issues in South Africa in the form of the “Security Personality of the Year Award”, presented by the South African Security Industry Association.

2004 has also been a year of commitment by the Institute to transforming its internal policies and practices so that it can meet its commitment to contributing to peace and security in Africa. This has included developing an employment equity policy and plan and putting in place training programmes for staff at all levels of the organisation.

Pretoria

19 November 2004