A manual for members of parliament in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger who sit on the defense and security committee of their national assembly and who are responsible for allocating funds or approving proposed budgets related to the realms of defense and security. The guide covers the principles of democratic governance of the security sector and security sector reform; the Economic Community of West African States' multi-year budgeting approach; implications of democratic oversight of this process; budgetary oversight of the security sector in particular; and the specific roles of defense and security commission members within the context of MPs' budgetary oversight function.