ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the concept of SSR, its key concerns and policy approach, and some of the dominant critiques. It outlines how gender is addressed in the United Nation's SSR policy and in the resolutions of the Security Council, as important influences on institutional SSR policies and global practice. The chapter highlights the tendency for approaches to gender-responsive SSR to be limited to increasing women's participation in the security sector, neglecting the institutional changes in values and culture needed both to give women equal opportunities and to achieve sustained and meaningful improvements in service provision. It draws together analysis of successes and challenges in implementing SSR in a gender-responsive way, organized thematically around three key areas: delivery of security services; human resources and organizational culture of security sector institutions; and participation in SSR processes. It is informed by both practice-orientated literature from institutions supporting SSR processes, and academic critique of SSR analysts and feminist legal and security scholars.
