Objectives

This project aims to strengthen the capacity of African T/PCCs, field missions and those who support African T/PCCs, to deploy personnel who are trained to DPO and DOS standards to UN-led peacekeeping operations.

Components

The project covers command level training for battalion commanders, Force Commanders and Deputy Force Commanders who will deploy to mostly African peacekeeping operations. It also addresses the capacity of the largest troop- and police-contributing countries (T/PCC) to select, train and deploy contingents and personnel to field missions. The project focuses on building sustainable in-mission training capacity for African peacekeeping missions to provide military and police-specific induction training and to conduct exercises for deployed units and personnel to practice contingency plans and to build mission coherence across components.

The project consists of training courses on Military-specific Induction Training, Design & Deliver simulation exercises, Police Specific Induction Training, UN Senior National Planner, UN Infantry Battalion Specialized Training Material Course, Police Capacity-Building Providers Meeting and the UN Infantry Battalion Commander Course.

Main achievements

The project delivered seven training courses to a total of 141 participants.

The project trained 47 trainers (16 women) from 16 T/PCCs with an average representation of 5 to 7 field missions, through seven training activities, including three courses to build capacity building for in-mission military, police and civilian trainers conducted in Entebbe (Uganda) on Military-specific Induction Training, Design & Deliver simulation exercises.

The remaining four courses included UN Senior National Planner, UN Infantry Battalion Specialized Training Material Course, the Police Light Coordination Mechanism Police Capacity-Building Providers Meeting and the UN Infantry Battalion Commander Course. held respectively in Denmark, Morocco, China and Uganda, with 94 participants from police and military personnel. Additionally, the project supported ITS involvement in follow-on events for four UN police training activities.

The seven training courses entailed:

• Building mission capacity to deliver Military-specific Induction Training in Entebbe, Uganda, 22-26 July 2024. In total 12 Integrated Mission Training Centre (IMTC) military trainers (4 females) from seven missions including United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL), United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), participated in the training. Participants learned techniques to enhance their instructional delivery, including strategies for effective communication, audience engagement, and the use of various presentation tools.

• Building mission capacity to Design & Deliver simulation exercises in Entebbe, Uganda, 29 July-2 August 2024. There were 21 participants including 4 females from civilian, military and police training cells of IMTCs, Joint Operations Centers and Logistics teams of 7 field missions including MINUSCA, United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), MONUSCO, UNMISS, United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), UNDOF and UNIFIL. Among them, 11 were military, 1 Police and 9 were civilian trainers. This Course focused on strengthening the IMTCs coordination and support to the design and delivery of exercises relating to mission contingency planning and response to emerging crises and other conflict related situations. Mission trainers gained a comprehensive understanding of Crisis Management, various exercises in the UN, design and delivery of Tabletop Exercise and Command Post Exercise.

• Building mission capacity to deliver Police Specific Induction Training (PSIT) in Entebbe, Uganda, 5-9 August 2024. 14 Participants entailing eleven police officers (8 female and 3 Male) and three security officers from five missions (MINUSCA, MONUSCO, UNISFA, United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and UNMISS) participated in the course. This course focused on standardizing PSIT modules across the mission and facilitation skills. The participants also learned how to process each delivery method to gain and maintain audiences’ attention and increase the retention rate of target audiences.

• UN Senior National Planner Course in Copenhagen, Denmark, 11-22 November 2024. 22 participants (including one female) attended the course. The course focused on increasing participants' understanding and capabilities in Force Generation and Preparation, Deployment and Rotation Management, Sustainment of Operations, Managerial Skills for Contingent Oversight, and Interaction with Subject-Matter Experts.

• UN Infantry Battalion Specialized Training Material Course in Agadir, Morocco, 1-12 July 2024 to 30 participants, including one female, representing eight Member States. The trainings focused on strengthening Member States' capacity to deliver the new mandatory training package for United Nations Infantry Battalions (UNIBAT), enhancing participants' training delivery skills and foster direct interaction with trainers from ITS and other Member States.

• Police Light Coordination Mechanism Police Capacity-Building Providers Meeting, in Shanghai, China, 4-6 December with 30 participants (8 women) from 14 Member States and speakers from United Nations Police (UNPOL), ITS and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Police Capacity-Building providers (those Member States and institutional partners most active in providing training and capacity-building support to other police-contributing countries), discussed coordinated support efforts, lessons learned and better use of resources on the Police Training Architecture Programme specifically through Mobile Training Teams (MTTs), institutional capacity-building, the deployment of women and equipment support. Plans for collaboration which will be implemented in 2025 were developed such as multi-national MTTs, thematic working groups, joint training courses, sharing of national policies and assessment tools, as well as equipment partnerships.

• UN Infantry Battalion Commander Course, in Entebbe, Uganda, 8-12 July 2024 with the participation of twelve police trainers (including three women). It focused on police administration and management; police component and organizational structure; and the roles and tasks of UN police.

In addition, the reports from missions that introduced the new military and police-specific induction training show that all missions have adopted the new program.

Impact

The project has enabled T/PCCs to build self-sustaining national and mission training capacity to consistently prepare and employ appropriately trained uniformed personnel and units through multiple rotations. Where mission training capacity is built, it should reduce reliance on external trainers and training support from DPO and DOS.

Group discussion during the Course, UNIBAT TOT Course in Agadir, Morocco, 1 -12 July 2024