Stabilisation Unit

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Cross-government unit (formerly Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit); centre of expertise on stabilisation, security and justice; funded via CSSF and governed through the National Security Council; succeeded by the Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation


Stabilisation Unit
Type Cross-government unit
Logo
Founded 2004 (as PCRU); renamed Stabilisation Unit 2007
Founder(s)
Dissolved
Registration ID
Status Succeeded by Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation (FCDO)
Headquarters London (latterly c/o FCO, King Charles Street)
Location
Area served
Services
Registration
Key people
Website
Remarks Recruits and deploys Deployable Civilian Experts and maintains the Civilian Stabilisation Group; works closely with CSSF contractors on security, justice and stabilisation programmes


The Stabilisation Unit is a British government body intended as the "Government’s centre of expertise and best practice in stabilisation", which the unit's website defines as "the process of establishing peace and security in countries affected by conflict and instability." The Unit reports to the Ministry of Defence, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development, and includes staff from each parent Department.[1] It was formed in 2007 by renaming the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit (PCRU, established 2004). From 2015 it was funded through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund and governed through the National Security Council. In February 2022 it was merged with former DFID and FCO staff to form the Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation (OCSM) within the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.[2][3]

History and remit

The Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit was set up in 2004 by DFID, FCO and MOD to improve joint working, initially focused on Iraq. It was renamed the Stabilisation Unit in late 2007 to reflect its broader remit in stabilisation. The unit’s stated role was to support countries emerging from violent conflict by preventing or reducing violence, protecting people and key institutions, promoting political processes that lead to greater stability, and preparing for longer-term non-violent politics and development. It provided assessment and planning support, rapid deployment of civilian experts, and lesson-learning.

From 2011 its remit expanded under the Building Stability Overseas strategy to include crisis response and conflict prevention. In 2015 it moved from joint control by DFID, FCO and MOD to governance through the National Security Council, with funding via the CSSF. By the late 2010s it was described as a cross-government, civil-military-police unit of around 100 core staff (drawn from 12 departments plus military and police secondees), able to call on an external roster. In 2016 it deployed just over 500 individuals; at any one time around 130 people were typically engaged on its tasks worldwide. It shared office space with the FCO and was responsible for the safety and security of staff it deployed.[4][5]

Its objectives have been summarised as:

  • providing the link between civil, military and police efforts to build stability overseas;
  • recruiting, training and deploying qualified Deployable Civilian Experts (including to multilateral missions);
  • capturing and analysing evidence to identify best practice and inform strategy and policy.

It maintained the Civilian Stabilisation Group (launched 2010) and later the Civil Service Stabilisation Cadre. Countries of activity have included Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Sudan/Darfur, Kosovo, Moldova, Yemen, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Palestine and others. It produced guidance such as the 2019 “UK Government’s Approach to Stabilisation: A guide for policy makers and practitioners,” which drew on lessons from the Iraq Inquiry and interventions in Libya, Syria and elsewhere.[6]

Relationship to CSSF and contractors

From 2015 the unit was funded through the CSSF (the successor to the Conflict Pool). The CSSF has been the main financial instrument for UK stabilisation activity; the Stabilisation Unit itself has been described as funded by the CSSF and as supporting the design, analysis and delivery of CSSF-funded interventions. It has published guidance on analysis for conflict and stabilisation interventions (including the Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability framework) and on the outsourcing of conflict, justice, security and stabilisation work. CSSF programme documents and contractor bids (including those for Syria strategic communications, policing support and related work) frequently reference Stabilisation Unit roles, secondments or technical input. The unit is therefore a key node linking Whitehall policy to the private-contractor ecosystem that has delivered much CSSF activity in fragile states.[7][8]

People

  • Jonny Hall
  • Mark Bryson-Richardson – Director (circa 2020)
  • Core staff drawn from DFID, FCO, MOD and (later) other departments, plus military and police secondees; external experts via the Civilian Stabilisation Group and Deployable Civilian Expert rosters.

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ What is Stabilisation, Stabilisation Unit, accessed 28 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Wikipedia, Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation.
  3. ↑ GOV.UK, Stabilisation Unit.
  4. ↑ Civil Service World, “Greater than the sum of its parts: how the Stabilisation Unit joins up Whitehall’s response to global crises,” 25 June 2020.
  5. ↑ GOV.UK, About us – Stabilisation Unit.
  6. ↑ GOV.UK, The UK Government’s approach to Stabilisation, March 2019.
  7. ↑ Wikipedia, Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.
  8. ↑ Stabilisation Unit, “Outsourcing Conflict, Justice, Security and Stabilisation Interventions” (internal/external guidance paper, circa 2018).
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