UN Peacekeeping,

Integrated Mission Structures

and Planning

UN Peacekeeping

• Peacekeeping is one among a range of activities

undertaken by the United Nations to maintain

international peace and security throughout the world.

• The other activities are:

– Conflict prevention and mediation

– Peacemaking

– Peace enforcement

– Peacebuilding

What is UN Peacekeeping?

• Role held by the DPKO

• Unique and dynamic instrument developed by the

organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to

create the conditions for lasting peace.

• Peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peace enforcement -

"mutually reinforcing"

• Overlap between them is frequent in practice.

Change in Nature of Peacekeeping

• With the end of the Cold War, the strategic context for UN

Peacekeeping changed dramatically.

• UN Peacekeeping, originally developed as a means of dealing with

inter-State conflict, was increasingly being applied to intra-State

conflicts and civil wars.

• Rapidly changing and more robust.

• Rapid surge in deployment - increasing number of operations &

multifunctional in nature.

• Mandates range from immediate stabilisation and protection of

civilians to supporting humanitarian assistance, organising elections,

assisting the development of new political structures, engaging in

security sector reform, disarming, demobilising and reintegrating

former combatants and laying the foundations of a lasting peace.

Peacekeeping is:-

• Team effort of diverse components

• Supplemented by a variety of partners

• Depends on individual awareness

Structures of UN PKO

• Commonalities in missions but no mission is the same and

there is no “one size fits all” approach or structure to

peacekeeping.

• Design of individual missions is specific to their context.

• Developed through the Integrated Mission Planning Process

undertaken following a Strategic Assessment and Technical

Assessment Mission (TAM).

“Integrated Mission”

• An instrument with which the UN seeks to help countries

in the transition from war to lasting peace.

• Address similar complex situations that require a

system-wide UN response, through subsuming actors

and approaches within an overall political-strategic crisis

management framework.

• No unified definition of the concept, nor templates for

integration

SRSG

Force Commander Police Commissioner

DSRSG DSRSG (RC/HC))

COS DMS

UNDP/OCHA

UNHCR/WHO/WFP/UNICEF

OHCHR

NGOs

Generic Mission Structure

Pol Affairs

Legal Adviser

Press/Public Info

Human Rights

CDU

DDR

Elections

JMAC JOC JLOC

Theme :

• Components for political & civil affairs, law, public information, others

• Special units for gender, child protection, discipline, HIV/AIDS

• “Clusters” for Rule of Law/Governance, Administration/Management

Integrated Missions and UN Country Team

• UNCT brings the different UN agencies, funds and

programmes together, ensuring inter-agency coordination and

decision-making at the country level.

• DSRSG (RC/HC) promotes effective coordination between

the mission, UN agencies and external partners.

• Arrangements and structures vary according to context and

may change depending on the phase of the mission and the

situation on the ground.

Integrated Missions and UN Country

Team Partners

Operating in a country for several years before the arrival of

the mission and will continue to operate following its

departure.

Networks of contacts and activities

Understanding of the situation on the ground

External Partners

• Major non-UN international actors • Represented at the national rather than subnational level.

Include :- – Bilateral national development agencies, – Multilateral organizations, – International financial institutions, – Regional and sub-regional organizations and international NGOs.

• Independent agendas, which may not always be aligned with those of the UN mission.

• Interacting with non-UN actors is about building relationships and understanding the different rules and mandates that govern each actor’s approach

Management Structures

SRSG

COS

POL CA HR UN

DSS LA

ELECT

-ORAL PI

DSRSG

?

DSRSG HC/RC HOMC HOPC DMS/CMS

Senior Management Group

Mission Leadership Team

SRSG

• Leadership and vision

• Political negotiations

• Benchmarks of progress

• Harmony of total effort

• Good order and discipline

• Mission safety and security

Political Affairs

• Focuses on thorny details of political settlements

• Works with host, diplomatic community and partners

Military

• Largest component of peacekeeping operations.

• Functions depend on the mandate

• Primary function is to secure an enabling environment

for all aspects of the mission to operate.

• Two main points of contact with the military component

of the mission –

– Senior officer in the location where they are situated

– Civil Military Coordination (CIMIC) Officer

Force Commander

Commands military component

Executes the military mandate

Supervises the military bodies in the peace process

Chief interlocutor with warring parties

Responsible for conduct of military personnel

CIMIC Officers

• Facilitate the flow of information, provide advice on how the

military may assist the civilian components or local authorities.

• Liaison with local authorities and coordinate requests to the

military.

• Military observer assumes the CIMIC function at the local level and serves as the primary interface for civil affairs

• Civil Affairs Officers at the local and regional levels provide the military components with advice concerning civilian issues, cultural norms and the broader context of mandate implementation

Police

• Mandates – observation, advice, capacity-building and

institutional reforms.

• IPOs- “experts on mission” and generally unarmed.

• Co-locate with their host-state counterparts, working alongside

them while promoting change.

• FPUs - armed contingents of about 140 police from a single

country, assigned to public order management, protection of UN

staff and facilities, and high-risk operations.

• FPUs : designed for public order management, may also be

helpful in providing security to transport and facilities, including

humanitarian aid delivery and IDP camps.

• UN police work with civil affairs – and other mission partners –

in joint protection, rapid response and EW mechanisms

Human Rights

• Expertise, guidance and support by the Office of the High

Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

• Develop the capacity of national actors and institutions to do

the same.

• At the local level, Civil Affairs can provide information about

the situation at the local level and play a vital role in early

warning

• Share relevant information and analysis after taking into

account concerns about confidentiality.

• For technical follow-up should be passed to Human Rights

component, which are in a better position to advise on the

best course of action, including by referring specific cases to

the UN human rights mechanisms

Gender

• Multidimensional missions are mandated to mainstream

gender in all policies, programmes and activities, and to

implement UNSCR 1325 on women, peace and security.

• Advise the SRSG and the mission on how to mainstream

gender and integrate gender perspectives into all areas of

activity

• Work with civil society and women’s organizations to support

the involvement of women in areas such as:

– early warning,

– protection of civilians,

– community policing.

Disarmament, Demobilization and

Reintegration (DDR)

• DDR is a complex process with political, military,

humanitarian and socio-economic aspects.

• Undertake a range of activities aimed at :-

– Building confidence to foster stabilization and progress,

– Serving as enablers for longer term political and security.

Electoral

• Mandate to assist or support an electoral process, electoral

components or units are established within the mission

structure.

• Play a technical support role in relation to elections.

Public Information

• Explains mandate, publicizes progress

• Becomes trusted local news source

• Builds confidence in peace process

• Change attitudes and perceptions of different groups

• Good coordination is essential to ensure the consistency of

the messages communicated directly to the public and

through the media.

Mission Support

• Oversees critical support elements, including

administration, human resources and logistics.

• Mission support also oversees components that work

closely with civil affairs on QIPs, including engineering

and finance.

• Within a mission, specialized support services are

crucial for the effective implementation of mandated

tasks

Joint Mission Analysis Centre

• Multidisciplinary structure created in 2005

• Military officers, police and international civilians.

• Provides an intelligence-collection capability at strategic or

operational levels.

• Integrated analyses for the senior management of

peacekeeping missions.

• Support of integrated management of operations

• Organizational structure of each JMAC varies for each

mission.

(JMAC brings together information from across a particular

mission and produces analysis to support the strategic activities

of the mission)

HUMANTARIAN ASSISTANCE

• Mandate for delivery or coordination

• Led by Humanitarian Coordinator

• Coordinates funds, programmes, agencies

• Works with other organizations and external

partners

Three Dilemmas in Relation To

Integration

• Impartiality needed to protect humanitarian space.

• Human rights dilemma

• Local ownership dilemma relates to the need to root

peace processes in the host country’s society and

political structures without reinforcing the very structures

that led to conflict in the first place.

Challenges of Integration

• UN partner agencies : mandate, decision-making structures and funding arrangements

• Accountability PK Mission & UN Agencies is different

• Timeframes are different:- – Humanitarian actors : immediate term

– Peacekeepers operate on a political timetable.

– Development Agencies look towards longer sustainability.

• UNCT and PK Ops have different institutional cultures and management styles.

Thank You