Challenge of Change -UN Peace Operations

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CHALLENGE OF CHANGE: APPROACH TO TRAININGFOR UN PEACE KEEPING OPERATIONS

ByCol (retd) KK Sharma, India

The UN Peacekeeping Training Workshop January 1996 in new Delhi

Introduction

The sense of euphoria towards UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs) suffered a

grave setback in the wake of Somalia, former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and to some extentAngola in the 90s. The cycle of euphoria and demand for more peacekeeping has seena cyclical effect over the past 30 years and forces remain tied down in DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Sudan, Haiti, even Afghanistan and many traditional peacekeepingoperations. Recommendations of Brahimi Panel1, and later Expert Panel of the UNSecretary General, to a greater extent provided an implement able way to tide overstructural and conceptual deficiencies noticed during the conduct of complex PKOs of


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you il you yi out your i t of uman ri t iolationnvest atonsorreachingout to theneedy ithhumanitarianaid.

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Modern day complex peace operations cannot e managed y any singleagency. Inter-agency cooperation requires enhancement of inter-operability,understanding of each others role and nowledge of others operational techniques.

he foursomeof the PK , i.e. the civilian component both andnon staff and leadership), military, civilian police and the s operate in the same geographicalareasandyet find themselvesat cross-purposewitheachother. his invariably leads toconfusion, suspicionof intent andeventual diminishingofeachotherscapabilit ies. hesituation is almost the same in various missions as was obtaining in early nineties in

ambodia, Bosnia or Somalia. Instead, there is a need to share these capabilities inorder to reduce the others limitations. nderstanding and respecting each othersstrengths would reduce overlapping efforts, thereby sparing a large amount ofresources. hiscanonlyhappen if the trainingregime isenlarged to includemost of the

agencies, throughawholesomepackage, bothat homeand inmission.

All components need to train in managing relationships, self -evaluation,behavioural adaptationandmakea consciouseffort tomoveaway from creating theirownexclusive identities. Since staffcomponentsare theaxisaroundwhicha PKis structured, it requires training with other agencies, sharing their strengths andcreating common operating procedures to work in the complex environment. Whilespeaking at the S Institute for Peace in Jun 2 1, Major eneral William ash SArmy, retired)had the following tosay: -

ntil the civilian components attain the same level ofcompetenceandresourcesasthemilitary,political objective ill notbeachieved.oomuchtime isspent talkingaboutmilitaryeffortandnotenough

aboutpolitical,social andeconomicaspectsofciviliantraining. Ifthecivilian and military communities fail to train effectively, they illcontinuetoexperiencepain inreachingtheirjointobjectives.

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Even the Militaryneedsorientation towards fighting forpeace, withscale ddownemphasis on use of force. Patience, persuasion, negotiation, mediation, roleexplanationand listeningskillsare thenewcombat tools, whichcanonlybedevelopedand sharpened through structured training and practice through genuine role players .

he training emphasis need to change the mindset of pre-dominance in a PK , if harmonized working with other agencies is to be achieved. Military needs greater

education on other components and their competencies to ensure it respects theirsensibilitiesandreachesout to them inordertoachievemissionmandate.

estorationof lawand order in apost conflict situation is fast emerging as thegreatest challenge to thecivilianpolice ina PK . Apart from theconcept of SMA ,civilian police role has even extended up to police administration and most policingfunctions inahost countryduring the transitional phases. Institutionbuilding, reforms inexisting structure, organizing change, capacity building, role in disarmament,


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demobilisation and reintegration process, and working in multi -culture/multi-religionsenvironment are someotherdemandson thecivilianpolice. Most of thesehavebeenidentified in the oncluding eport of the hallenges Project and therequirement is todefine ways and means to impart this education and training to the potentialpeacekeepers. While commenting on the existing regime of training, Lt en Satish

ambiar Indian Army, retired) had commented, At present, coordination between

armed forcesandpolice isalmostnon-existent. It is imperative that thisbesetrightandcommonapproachbe formulated. seofnational institutes like enterforPeacekeepingshouldbemadeto fostercommonalityofthetraining 8.

he oncluding eport on the hallenges Project dedicated an exclusivechapterto trainingandeducation 9, therebyacknowledging thecriticalityof training in theemergingpeaceoperations. hapter 1 highlights theneed foragreatercoherence inthe peace operations training and education system; establishment of peacekeepersprofile, evolving the trainingcurriculum to match thedesiredbasicprofile, identifying themost effectiveandefficient methodologiesanddevelopingacomprehensiveevaluationsystem. he eport may have to be re-evaluated either in the future hallengesSeminars or through International Associati on of Peace keeping raining entres

IAP ), since current systems of training and education continue to trainpeacekeepers in their own fields of expertise, in isolated manner an unacceptablesituation forfuturepeaceoperations. he oncluding eport requires tobe followedupwith some practical suggestions to inter-mesh training audience with the desiredpeacekeepers profile.

Focusneeds toshift from theoretical policy formulations to themethodologiesofconduct of trainingandeducation. In the caseof civilianpolicemonitorsandmilitaryobservers, manya timesrolesoverlapand thereforebothrequirebetterunderstandingof each others capabilities. here is thus a need to develop more comprehensivetraining syllabi, which looksat thecommonalities ratherat thedistinctiveness of eachcomponent. he application of these training packages needs a changed philosophy,whereactive involvement ofall playersmust beattemptedduringall stagesof trainingboth when training before actual depl oyment and during in mission briefings. hechallenge is to convince all troop and police contributors to establish joint trainingfacilities and actually train their components . uring the last hallenges Projectdeliberations, the partners from India had recommended the followingsub-themes forfurtherdeliberationsspecific to Educationand training: -

Inviewofreluctanceon thepart ofmanymemberstates, there isaneed tosetour priorities for peace operations training and education right. raining forcomplex operations under the cannot be allowed to be ignored by anymember state. an therebea M on the trainingbefore thecomponentsare

allowed todeploy?

Increasing complexity and need for specialization demands constant review oftrainingmethodologies. here isaneed tocreateapool ofexpert trainers, bothretiredandserving indifferent walksof life, whoshouldbeexchangedamongstthe training institutes. PK may sponsor such exchange to share financialburden.


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Training in member states should continue to focus at tactical level, which iscrucial to the success for peace operations, however the needs to identifyand trainstrategicandoperational leadership.

ayAhead

rainingofpotential peacekeepersoutside theircore competencies is thereal challenge for the , contributing organizations and troop/police contributingcountries. Someof thecommonsubjects like Inter-personal communicationskills, codeof conduct & behavioral guidelines, right attitude to work in a m ulti-religious/culturalenvironment andunderstanding the importanceof thehumanrights forthehost countryrequire added emphasis. Military must know the basic domain knowledge of civilianpolice or humanitarian agencies, not to take over those jobs, bu t to be able to betterappreciateandofferadviceorsecuritysupport for their functioning. In Somalia, during

S M II, some of the troops deployed in Mogadishu were clearly not adequatelytrained in restraint, use of minimum force and the techniques o f crowd control primarily a police function, yet these are essential for peacekeeping missions.

onsequently, when provoked, this force over-reacted to a hostile demonstration andshot up to 2 civilians. Similarly, theciviliancomponent must understand thestrengthsand limitationsof themilitaryorcivilianpolice toplacereasonabledemandson them.

All components operating in the field need to understand application of humanrights standards in the host country. Local military, police or the lower administrativefunctionaries cannot be expected to know the legal nuances of International Bill of

uman ights. Therefore, there isaneed todevelop linkagesof important clausesofboth the ovenants The International ovenants on ivil & Political; a nd Economic,Social & ultural ights) and the existing or erstwhile constitutional provisions of thehost nation. The local administrative functionaries would appreciate these linkagesincluding that to any regional human rights treaties, rather than refe rences to thedocuments of 1948 or 1966 origin, which they had no role in drafting or may neverunderstand. ew approaches would need to be devised in sustaining these trainingobjectiveswith the wouldbe peacekeepers.

Therequirement of interoperabilityofall fouragencies in the PK , hasgenerallybeenacceptedbyall insideandoutsideapeacekeepingmissionarea. hechallengelies in devising training methodologies to bring them together and train undercontrolledconditions ina oneor two-sided role-playingenvironment. TES and

P recently made conscious efforts to experiment with the combined trainingcapsules, wherein most of the components are involved in an interactive learningprocess. While the focusof trainingmethodologies inm ost training institutesaround the

worldhasremainedonclassroom instructions, the Indianexperienceof interactive fieldexercise for the Military bserverand ivilian Police fficers ourse in ct 2 ,and later followupson thesame, receivedexcellent reviews for itspractical applicationandusefulness.

The oursewasrununder theguidanceof PK TES and P )andplannedwith theassistanceof Indian entre for Peacekeeping. Incorporationofmost of theagencies, includingmedia over 5 mediapersonsand tenTV channels foraday)and


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use of local population centers to develop communication barriers, provided anexcellent opportunity to the trainingaudience both foreignand Indianmilitary & policeofficers) inpractical handlingofd ifferent situations. The focal point of trainingremainedmanagement of human relations, behavioural pattern, interpersonal communicationskills, negotiationondailybasis, management ofgroupconflicts, integrity inpurpose &action and handling of live situations. Mission goals and inter-agency coordination

duringvariousphasesofexecutionofacomplex PK werebuilt intoacompressed timeschedule and executed on ground in a nearly 16 -hour a day regime. equiredlandscape to the training audience was provided by role players from an infantrybattalion moving on a new deployment to mission and civilian police membersalreadyexperienced in PK . Militaryobserversandpoliceofficersattending thecoursecarried out on the spot mediation, negotiatio n, casualty evacuation, interview withmedia and often experienced near real-life stress of being detained or working in acombat likesituation.

Joint training effortsneed to steer clearof the core competencyof each

agency, as the same is inherent in their jobs. The training programme may bedevelopedwitha focusoncommonsubjectscurriculum, wheremost of thecomponents

need towork together. Theprogramme can beexecuted inup to three weeks, withastructured mix of classroom instructions, exercise model discussions on masterscenarioevent list typeanda full-fledged fieldexerciseofup toaweeksduration. Thechallenge in preparation and execution of the training module is to cover the

core-trainingcurriculumwithrelevancetomajorityof thecomponentsofa P .The training could revolve around militaryobservers, civilianpolice personnel and

civilian staff operating in the field. Thus the membersof fieldsecurity service,commissionofhumanrights, humanitarianaidagencies; andeven I couldbe incorporated in the training module as either the role players or training advisors.Theexecutionwouldneedextensive fine -tuningofroleplayersanddailyroutine throughacontiguousstory linegivingnarrationofmissionprogress.

The hasbeenactingasacoordinator inorder todevelopandutilizenationalpeacekeeping trainingcentresandexpertisearound theworldsince late90s. ThroughTES, it has been carrying out coordination of train ing, generation of standard trainingmaterial andevaluationof the formed troops. It is time that the reevaluates itsownefficacy in thisregardandworks towardswiderpeacekeeping trainingbyencouragingafull fledged trainingschedule forall part icipatingmembers. Emphasisneeds to shift totraining together for peace , for which all components may have to be broughttogetheronnational orregional basis. The fieldexerciseexperiment in Indian entre for

Peacekeepingcouldbeoneof thestart pointsandcanbe furtherrefinedover timethrough other peacekeeping training institutes into an acceptable field exercise of atleast sevendays duration.

1Recommendations of Brahimi Panel, August 2000.

2 Sergio De Mello, in an interview to BBC, 48 hours before the ghastly terror strike on UN office complex in

Baghdad.3 Recommendations of Brahimi Panel, August 2000.4 Tonya Cook, International Civilian Police, paper for Peaceworks-43 by US Institute for Peace, Jun 2001.5 Ibid.


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6Barry M Blechman & J Mathew Vaccaro, Training for Peacekeeping: The UN Role, The Henry L Stimson Center,

Washington, July 1994.7

Introduction, Peaceworks-43, Jun 2001.8

Satish Nambiar, Lt Gen (retd), Director USI, speaking to UN Military observers Course at CUNPK, New Delhi,

Nov 2002.9 Chapter 13, Training and Education; Concluding report, 1997-2002 Challenges of Peace Operations: Into the 21st

century Swedish national Defence College and Challenges Project Partners Organizations.

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Challenge of Change -UN Peace Operations