WGA 2020 | Denmark | Operationalisation

Operationalisation

Question:
What administrative structures and processes are in place to back-up the policies described in the previous section? How does your country operationalise a WGA and with what success? What are the key operational enablers and ‘disablers’ of a WGA in your country?

Denmark Expert

Peter Viggo Jakobsen

Professor, Institute for Strategy, Royal Danish Defence College, Copenhagen

Peter Viggo Jakobsen is Professor at the Institute for Strategy at the Royal Danish Defence College, and Professor (part time) at the Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark. He has acted as an advisor and consultant for several governments and international organizations, is frequently used by the Danish and international media as a commentator on defence and security issues, has won awards for his teaching and public dissemination skills and has written extensively on civil-military cooperation and the integrated approach, coercive diplomacy, Danish and Nordic foreign and security policy, NATO, peace and stabilization operations, UN, and use of military force. He holds a PhD from University of Aarhus, Denmark, in International relations.

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The programmes and activities funded by the Peace and Stabilisation Fund (PSF) constitute the core of Denmark’s WGA activities. They are planned, funded, implemented and monitored in accordance with a detailed set of WGA guidelines. The overall objective of the PSF funded stabilisation efforts is to counter the threats from migration and terrorism, both of which must be tackled with a long-term perspective and through a broad spectrum of efforts that make use of the full range of foreign, security, defence and development policy tools. These instruments are employed to prevent conflicts in fragile countries and regions as well as to stabilise areas that have already been affected by conflict. In 2018, the PSF funded peace and stabilisation activities in Afghanistan, Georgia, the Horn of Africa, Iraq, Pakistan, the Sahel, Syria and Ukraine. Furthermore, additional activities focused on a number of thematic priority areas, such as anti-radicalisation and the prevention of terrorism in the Middle East, maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, and the UN’s capacity for conducting stabilisation and peacekeeping activities. Finally, the PSF allocates resources to sudden crises.

The regional programmes are carried out in cooperation with the EU, NATO, the UN and a variety of strategic partners, such as France, the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom and the United States. The regional stabilisation programme for Syria and Iraq, which was launched in 2016, is carried out within the framework of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group also known as Daesh. In Iraq, support for mine removal and basic services have contributed to making it possible for displaced persons to return to newly liberated areas in Iraq. In Syria, the programme has focused on supporting the police, the civil emergency services and service providers in opposition-controlled areas as well as on promoting inclusive political dialogue. In the wake of the liberation of Raqqa, the programme was also able to support the removal of hazards involving explosives.

The stabilisation programme for the Horn of Africa focuses geographically on Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. One of its overarching goals is to strengthen regional peacekeeping capacity, and Denmark supported a major field training exercise for the Eastern African Standby Force (EASF) in 2017. Moreover, that same year, Denmark contributed once again to the Somalia Stability Fund, which strengthened its strategic focus by, for example, adopting a new approach to ensuring the inclusion of women. The combined programme for Afghanistan and Pakistan provides support to developing and operating the Afghan police forces, support functions for the Afghan army, and training to Afghan officers. For example, the Afghan police were supported through the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan via delegated cooperation with the EU. Through the regional peace and stabilisation programme for the Sahel, Denmark has supported the EMP school of peacekeeping in Bamako by, for example, deploying training instructors from the Danish Home Guard. It is also supporting the establishment and build-up of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, a regional force with forces from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger that is supposed to contribute to the stabilisation of the Sahel region. Denmark also contributes to strengthening democratic control over the use of force, such as by conducting courses for parliamentarians. The programme is carried out in cooperation with France.

The PSF also runs a programme aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism in the Middle East. The focus of the programme, which involves initiatives in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, is on strengthening the capacity of states bordering territories controlled by the Islamic State to prevent and combat terrorism. By strengthening the capacity of local authorities to check recruitment for and the financing of terrorism, Denmark has contributed to limiting the spread of violent extremism in the region.

Since 2015, the PSF has provided support to the Gulf of Guinea Interregional Network (GoGIN), an EU-led programme that aims to foster maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. Denmark has set priorities within the regional maritime coordination centres and provides support to the countries’ judicial system, such as to prosecute pirates. Denmark has also deployed a maritime adviser from the Danish military to Nigeria who is tasked with identifying activities that can strengthen local and regional capacities to effectively tackle challenges related to maritime piracy and robbery in the Gulf of Guinea. In addition, Denmark’s Frogman Corps has engaged in capacity-building of partner units from Nigeria and Cameroon with the aim of training and conducting exercising with these units to improve practical skills, such as sanitation, vessel-boarding and securing evidence at sea.

In Ukraine, the PSF has supported the development of the country’s defence capabilities. For example, Denmark’s armed forces contributed to the training of Ukrainian soldiers and instructors by seconding a language officer to Operation Unifier, the Canadian training mission in Ukraine, in addition to seconding an adviser to NATO’s liaison office in Ukraine, which has contributed to developing civilian skills in the defence and security sectors, such as ones related to implementing reforms (The Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice 2018, 2019).

Denmark Report