The International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC), adopted in 2010, articulates human rights responsibilities of private security companies, and sets out principles, standards and requirements for the responsible provision of private security services, particularly when operating in complex environments.

The International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA) is a multi-stakeholder initiative established in 2013 as a Swiss non-profit association, in which states, private security companies and civil society organisations jointly oversee the implementation of the ICoC. 
DCAF supports implementation of the ICoC and works in partnership with ICoCA.

For more information, visit https://icoca.ch/. 

• The Montreux Document and the International Code of Conduct: Understanding the relationship between international initiatives to regulate the global private security industry - Nelleke Van Amstel & Tilman Rodenhäuser (2016)
• Towards an International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers: A view from inside a multistakeholder process – Anne-Marie Buzatu (SSR Paper no. 12, 2015)
• Regulating Private Military And Security Companies: The Montreux Document And The International Code Of Conduct (2015)
   

DCAF has over a decade of experience supporting regional and national processes to improve regulation, oversight and accountability of the private security industry.
DCAF also engages in research partnerships with academia and civil society organisations, developing practical tools to ensure effective, human rights compliant legal and policy frameworks for private security.

In Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, DCAF supports regional organizations and networks of human rights institutions committed to strengthening private security governance. In Africa, DCAF is a strategic partner to the Private Security Governance Observatory, a network of CSOs that promotes good governance of the private sector.

• Democratic Republic of Congo - DCAF supports the development, adoption and implementation of a roadmap to strengthen private security regulation, in cooperation with public institutions, regulatory authority representatives in Kinshasa and 8 provinces, and civil society. 
• Nigeria - DCAF fosters country-wide public policy discussions on challenges in private security regulation, which has notably led to the development of a new draft law by public institutions and a new human rights training programme for private security companies.
• Madagascar - DCAF supports the regulation of private security in Madagascar through knowledge gathering, provision of legal advice, and sensitizing the industry and stakeholders on regulatory efforts.
• Middle East and North Africa - DCAF supports stakeholders in Palestine and Tunisia in strengthening the legal framework governing private security in order to respond to national security challenges. 
• Latin America and the Caribbean - DCAF works with the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the two regional networks of human rights and ombuds institutions to raise awareness on the private security industry and key regulatory, oversight, and accountability challenges. DCAF also provides support on private security regulation to regulators notably in Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Peru.
• Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) - DCAF supports the OSCE in raising awareness on the regulation of PMSCs among participating States and within OSCE institutions, and supports national implementation of good practices in the region.