Rens Willems is now Senior researcher for the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (Internationaal Onderzoek en Beleidsevaluatie, IOB) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has completed his doctoral dissertation at the Centre for Conflict Studies (CCS) at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. His research examined the ways in which international efforts to build or contribute to security in the hybrid political context of post-settlement countries relate to national and local perceptions and practices of security. A particular focus has been on security interventions, such as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR), security sector reform (SSR), armed violence reduction (AVR), and small arms and light weapons (SALW) control. He has done extensive field research in Burundi, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Outside research he has been involved in education and project coordination, working closely with knowledge institutions, policymakers, civil society and community-based organizations.