Integrated Mission Education and Training Concept

A team from The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO), Integrated Training Service (ITS), has just finalised their evaluation of The United Nations Staff Officer Course (UNSOC) and given their recommendations that UNSOC should be accredited by DPKO in accordance with UN training requirements.

D P Comm Stig Månsson (Swedish National Criminal Police), Maj Joan Hansen (ITS), Supt. Karla Witte (ITS), Maj Bengt-Åke Folkeson (SWEDINT) Photo: Camilla Ekenberg/Försvarsmakten

Logistics, The evaluation took place during SWEDINT’s unique education and training concept “Integrated Mission”.

This concept is built on three separate courses, The United Nations Staff Officer Course (UNSOC), The United Nations Police Commander Course (UNPCC) and The United Nations Civilian Staff Officer Course (UNCIVSOC). All three courses are conducted simultaneously and during the final week they are merged into a Command Post Exercise (CPX) where all participants are posted as staff members in a UN led Sector HQ.

Experience shows that with this concept all participants are involved in different selected lines of operations, such as:

  • DDR
  • IDP
  • Human rights
  • Mandate Spoilers
  • Election
  • Logistics,
  • Civil-Military Coordination
  • Current operations as well as long term planning etc.

As a result of Subject Matter Experts impersonating the various actors involved in modern PSO such as, OSCE, UNHCR, ICRC, CO’s, Mission HQ and Local Government/Military/Police, course participants are forced to cooperate and coordinate meetings in order to collect and distribute information on these operations.

The objectives given are selected from the mandate and demand integration between the security, political, humanitarian and development pillars in that particular country/mission.

DDR - Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration

IDP - Internally Displaced Person

OSCE - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

UNHCR - United Nations Human Rights Council

ICRC - International Committee of the Red Cross

CO’s - Battalion Commanding Officer