The PASOS Think-Tank Awards commend the work and achievements of members that demonstrate outstanding work to promote the values and goals of PASOS in promoting and protecting democracy, human rights and open society values - including the rule of law, good governance, and economic and social development.

During the last couple of decades, civil society organisations have became actors in the security sector. Good governance of the security sector is not only effective exercise of the economic, political and administrative competences of government, but also requires the involvement of non-statutory actors in the control and oversight of state institutions.

Since it emerged from the donor and academic communities in the 1990s, the concept of Security Sector Reform (SSR) has been through numerous transformations. SSR can be defined as "the process through which security sector actors adapt to the political and organizational demands of transformation." The aim of SSR is "the efficient and effective provision of state and human security within a framework of democratic governance."