Presented by Mr G. Saunders from the Lessons Exploitation Centre, at the 10th International Lessons Learned Conference (10ILLC) dated 19 May 17.
Learning and Applying the lessons of Capacity Building, principally as an element of Defence Engagement, and how to Measure its Effectiveness The UK military has a deep legacy and rich history in conducting capacity building with partner nations from colonial times, through both World Wars, and more recently as a conduit for preventing instability overseas and as a constituent of international Defence Engagement (DE). It is also a central tenet of the UK’s counter-terrorism and countering organised crime strategies, through the ‘prevent’ and ‘pursue’ work-strands aimed at neutralising or disrupting threats at source. Capacity building has been defined by the UK military as ‘actions to improve military and civil capability and infrastructure’. This presentation from Headquarters Field Army’s lessons and stabilisation doctrine writing teams will look at the current background to UK DE and capacity building within it and how this sits within the Army’s
unifying doctrine, which describes how it approaches all operations, from warfighting through to stabilisation and peacekeeping. It will also discuss the myriad lessons that have been learned and applied during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and through more recent DE and Security Force Assistance tasks, demonstrating the blurring of lines between upstream (pre-conflict), in conflict or crisis, and downstream (post-conflict) capacity building. It will also discuss how we can measure the effectiveness of DE and capacity building.
