PAUL JACKSON is Head of the School of Government and Society at the University of Birmingham, UK, where he teaches and researches contemporary African politics and security and has been the Director of the Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform. He was part of the reform efforts in Sierra Leone immediately following the conflict, working on issues of security and decentralisation and the rejuvenation of local government. He has many years experience of working in developing countries, particularly in Africa. He has worked within the area of politics and security for several Governments, the UN, the EU and the World Bank. He sits on the Geneva DCAF Advisory Board, is a member of the Folke Bernadotte Institute working group on Security Sector Reform and directs the International Development Department's postgraduate programme in Conflict, Security and Development   PETER ALBRECHT is a PhD researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) and Copenhagen Business School, focusing on local level implementation of security sector reform (SSR) in Sierra Leone. He was previously Governance and Conflict Adviser in the UK's Stabilisation Unit and Senior Programme Officer in International Alert's Peacebuilding Issues Programme.