International assistance and security sector reform in Latin America and Caribbean

• Autor(a) principal: Tomesani, Ana Maura
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Texto Completo: http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/101/101131/tde-24042019-143636/
• topic: Ajuda externa; América Latina e Caribe; Assistência internacional; Assistência para o desenvolvimento; Cooperação para o desenvolvimento; Development cooperation; Foreign aid; International assistance; Latin America and Caribbean; Organizações regionais; Reforma do setor de segurança; Regional organizations; Security sector reform

This work seeks to understand the demands of the security sector in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC), in the context of reforms promoted by international aid agencies in the region. The initial hypothesis of this study is that international aid programs focused on Security Sector Reform (SSR) in the region have been generic, and have overlooked recipient countries\' own reform agendas. LAC perspectives on SSR have been inferred from documents of the Organization of American States (OAS), UNASUR, MERCOSUR, CARICOM and Andean Community documents. Information on international assistance for SSR programs was gathered from the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) database for the years 2004-2014. The analysis shows that assistance programs are not generic and that the profile of projects, resources allocated and countries targeted differ greatly according to donors. However, international offer does not account for the whole set of demands and some expensive programs funded by international assistance are not even mentioned in local agendas, what suggests that SSR aid responds to funder\'s guidelines rather than to local needs. The study also reveals differences in programs funded by bilateral and multilateral aid agencies in the region, showing that, in general, programs funded by multilateral agencies are more attentive to local needs than those promoted by bilateral agencies, which are less demand-driven and more guided by donor interests.