Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law

Recently, Integrity CEO Anthony Ellis was invited to attend the Second Annual Conference in The Hague of the Security & Rule of Law Knowledge Platform

The Knowledge Platform is an initiative by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen as part of her development agenda to improve security for civilians, build rule of law and develop knowledge infrastructure in developing countries, particularly those affected by conflict and fragility.

The Knowledge Platform aims to promote knowledge exchange and to identify, define and answer research questions with the aim of underpinning Dutch development policy in fragile and conflict affected settings and its implementation more adequately; thereby contributing to its effectiveness. Simultaneously, the platform aims to tackle a number of additional bottlenecks, including fragmentation of research funds (the platform will be the main vehicle through which the Ministry’s research funds on issues of security and rule of law are allocated), difficulties in linking knowledge to policy and its implementation, and inadequate exchange of practical knowledge and experience between organisations active in the field.

To achieve this, the platform brings together an international network of the most qualified practitioners, policy-makers, academics and businesses working on the issues. “The keywords in this endeavour are demand-oriented, problem-oriented, multidisciplinary and high-quality content grounded in practice and designed for impact”.

With a focus on identifying and unpacking assumptions around issues of ‘Violence on the Periphery’, ‘Globalisation and Social Justice’, and ‘New Approaches to Security’, the second annual conference comprised an exciting and inspiring menu of topics.

The conference succeeded in welcoming several innovative thinkers – among others – Juma Assiago (UNHABITAT, Kenya), Joshua Simmons (Global Financial Integrity, USA), Isabel Aguilar Umaña (Interpeace, Guatemala), Jeroen de Lange (moderator), and Jok Madut Jok (The Sudd Institute).

The approximately 150 participants of the conference actively engaged in choosing the topics for the afternoon breakout sessions by voting for the issue they found most relevant to pursue. The menu of potential topics was derived from the presentations of the keynote speakers, previous discussions on theories of change and context analysis responding to the evaluation of the Dutch Foreign Policy in Fragile States from 2005 – 2011, and the main outcomes of the recent online debate on Foreign Engagement in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts.

Click here to view the conference programme, including information on keynote speakers.