United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO)

The mapping and assessment of police and other Law Enforcement Agencies, and justice and corrections institutions are important tools in planning, implementing and evaluating mandates of UN peace operations designed to advise, assist and support the host-state authorities in ensuring security and strengthening the rule of law.

To date, the rule of law sector in most post-conflict contexts has been mapped and assessed in an ad hoc manner, with varying results.  In order to ensure that mapping and assessment activities are carried out more methodically and effectively, DPKO OROLSI (Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions) seeks to develop guidelines for mapping and assessing police and other law enforcement agencies, in addition to justice and corrections institutions, in post conflict settings.  The drafted guidelines will set out basic principles and provide a step-by-step methodology for mapping and assessment exercises including their planning, implementation and follow up.

The draft guidelines will be developed by ISSAT under the overall guidance of OROLSI.

The increasing complexity of United Nations and more specifically, United Nations police mandates has resulted in a greater need to identify the appropriate capacity required for policing missions in an international environment. United Nations police officers need to have a comprehensive understanding of complex law enforcement activities, police reform in post-conflict contexts, links to broader security and justice reform and how to work within an integrated mission environment. 

With capacity needs doubling from 8,300 in January 2006 to 16,500 in January 2010, and by 500 per cent in the past decade, United Nations police have found it increasingly difficult to be able provide adequate strategic guidance and advice regarding capacity development and deployment reflecting the new challenges faced on the ground. A new ‘Police Selection and Recruitment Section’ within the Police Division will be responsible for selecting and recruiting candidates for United Nations police positions.

ISSAT has supported an initial capacity needs assessment that has resulted in the prioritising of needs, responses, and the subsequent adoption of an action plan by the United Nations DPKO/Police Division. The main objective of this request is to support the Police Selection and Recruitment Section of the Police Division in executing its action plan.

DCAF/ISSAT was requested to assist the Police Division in overcoming one of its most critical challenges facing both UNPOL but also bilateral policing programme: fostering the necessary change of behaviour by Police Contributing Countries and their understanding of the capacity needed to support the United Nations police in peacekeeping operations to implement its mandate. This request also links to the UNPOL mandate on providing support to review United Nations police activities in peacekeeping operations.

DCAF/ISSAT support consisted of: 

• Monitoring/Coaching with regard to the implementation of the draft action plan (developed as part of the previous mandate)
• Assisting in drafting of an overarching Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) (through a consultative process) on Recruitment, Selection, Deployment and Rotation of UNPOL seconded mission staff. This SOP shall redefine the criterion for Police Contributing Countries (PCC) staff contributions and enhanced routines for deployment. 
• Support UNPOL to design and organise a workshop with Permanent Mission of Police Contributing Countries together with UN POL on the new SOP.

In order to meet the mission objectives, several phases of activities will be required.

Phase I – Review of existing UN material

Phase II – Field Missions: Missions to the police component of UN peacekeeping mission will be undertaken to review the role played by the UN police. After each mission preliminary reports will be shared with the Police Department (PD) and Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI) to feed into their policy development process.

Phase III – Final Report – will be developed and submitted to PD/OROLSI providing recommendations to be integrated into the SDF process.

DPKO requested that ISSAT contribute to a UN project to explore the linkages between DDR and SSR and draw relevant lessons learned and guidance for future DDR and SSR activities. 2 ISSAT Associate SSR advisors are requested to conduct field missions in Burundi and DRC.

DPKO requested that ISSAT contribute to a UN project to explore the linkages between DDR and SSR and draw relevant lessons learned and guidance for future DDR and SSR activities. This mandate links into the ongoing work being undertaken by UNDP, DPKO and DCAF within the UNs inter-agency working group on DDR, to develop a module on the nexus between DDR and SSR for the UN’s Integrated DDR standards (IDDRS). 

A joint request was received from the Police Division (PD) in the Office of the Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI) within DPKO, in collaboration with the Electoral Assistance Division within DPA, to develop a short operational policy on police assistance during electoral processes. The process of developing the guidance included:

• Gathering and reviewing existing information (lessons learned, reports, manual, etc.)
• Meeting and consulting with relevant partners (EU, OSCE, IDEA, etc.)
• Internal ISSAT brainstorming
• Drafting a concept note with the underpinning principles for the guidance
• PD/OROLSI to assist in convening a workshop with various UN stakeholders to discuss the concept note
• PD/OROLSI to provide consolidated feedback from the workshop and substantial comments on the concept note
• Drafting the policy and submit to PD/OROLSI for final review and adoption within DPKO.

In virtually all peacekeeping operations in which United Nations Police (UNPOL) have been deployed, the police component has been asked to assist in preparing for and during elections (being responsible for security in all phases of elections, a variety of protection tasks including protecting facilities, convoys, or candidates). While tailoring police electoral assistance to specific circumstances is unavoidable, some generally applicable guidance – types of tasks and principles that guide them – should be in place to help design police electoral assistance programmes in accordance with basic international standards.

Following a request by the SSR Unit of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations to develop its capacity to facilitate  national efforts to develop a National Security Strategy, ISSAT organised a two-day training session for SSR Unit personnel from 29-30 June at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Main objectives of the training included:

• The development of the SSR Unit’s capacity to facilitate local efforts to develop a National Security Strategy;
• The training of UN officials to deliver training on NSS;

The training was to equip participants with a comparative understanding of how NSSs may be structured and generated. It was to review the challenges and opportunities of NSS processes, while analyzing the vision and values that guide a country’s approach to security. The training was also to review more technical aspects related to the development of a Security Sector Development Plan such as costing, prioritizing and sequencing. 

Given the increasing demand within peacekeeping operations for UNPOL assistance in the preparation for and during elections, the Police Division in the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI) within DPKO requested the assistance of ISSAT to develop its capacity on the facilitation of national efforts to develop a National Security Strategy.

UNPOL, in collaboration with ISSAT, organised a two-day workshop that brought together participants from the Police Division, the OROLSI, DPKO and DPA to develop a short operational policy outlining types of tasks and general principles that should guide UNPOL’s activities in the field of electoral assistance.

Key objectives of the workshop will include:

• Gather and review existing information (lessons learned, reports, manual, etc.)
• Meet and consult with relevant partners (EU, OSCE, IDEA, etc.)
• Draft a concept note with the underpinning principles for the guidance
• Draft the policy and submit to PD/OROLSI for final review and adoption within DPKO.

The UN Inter-Agency SSR Taskforce was in the process of developing its approach to SSR sensitization and training. ISSAT assisted in the development of the UN approach to SSR sensitisation and training, including the initial roll-out phase to UN staff and the development of SSR trainers from the Inter-Agency Taskforce.

Through the Chair of the Taskforce, i.e. DPKO, ISSAT was requested to provide assistance in a further roll out of the course to personnel of the UN Police Division and the Standing Police Capacity. In tandem with this mission support was provided for the further development of UN SSR training modules. 

On behalf of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on SSR, the SSR Unit in DPKO requested ISSAT’s assistance to support the running of the upcoming UN Senior SSR Practitioners Workshop.

Participants included the senior SSR staff from peacekeeping missions, DPA, UNDP, UNIFEM and OHCHR missions/field offices/regional offices, as well as representatives from the African Union and European Union. Representatives from all IASSRTF members at the expert-level were also in attendance. 

The workshop focused on the theme of "national ownership and partnership building", which has been highlighted by UN field staff as a major challenge in their work to support national SSR efforts.

Objectives

1. To explore the issues of national ownership and partnership building, by discussing common challenges in the field, lessons learned and strategies/tools for effective support.
2. To provide train-the-trainer training on the “one-day sensitisation briefing and the United Nations emerging approach” developed by the inter-agency SSR Task Force.
3. To review progress and further discuss the United Nations emerging approach to SSR, including identification of immediate needs and priorities.
4. To further develop a "knowledge and practice network" among actors involved in SSR.

Following a request made by the SSR Coordinator of MONUC, the SSR Unit of UN DPKO requested ISSAT’s assistance in conducting five one-day sensitisation briefings for UN staff, national authorities and bi/multi-lateral actors in the DRC. This request followed support provided to the Senior SSR Practitioners Workshop (July 2009) where the UN sensitisation course was offered to all missions and country teams. MONUC requested that the sensitisation briefing sessions be tailored to the following audiences: 1) Staff from MONUC and the UN Country Team as well as major bilateral partners; 2) Representatives of the PNC, the FARDC, and security sector-related national authorities, including oversight bodies; 3) Representatives of the National Youth Council, possibly in partnership with UNICEF; 4) Representatives of the private sector and legal professions; and 5) Representatives of non-governmental organizations and the media.

The African Union requested assistance from DPKO’s SSR Unit to run a 2-day SSR orientation workshop for its personnel. DPKO’s SSR Unit, on behalf of the SSR Task Force, followed up with a request to ISSAT to support the design and roll-out of this training course at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. 

The training programme aimed to develop the AU’s capacity on SSR and targeted middle- and senior-level personnel working on SSR and related issues within the AU secretariat, field missions and permanent observer offices. Key objectives of the training included:

• To increase participants’ awareness and understanding of security sector reform (SSR), as well as both the African Union and the United Nations emerging approaches to SSR.
• To articulate challenges, lessons learned and requirements for the African Union’s support in the area of SSR.
• To identify potential principles for SSR inAfrica, which could be used in the further development of an African Union approach to SSR.
• To enhance the African Union’s capacity to “deliver as one” effective and holistic SSR support to sub-regional organizations and national authorities.
• To begin the process of developing a SSR Community of Practice within the African Union by promoting active membership across the Organisation.

The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia requested the UN to support the team of 18 Somali experts who have been tasked to conduct “a two-week scoping mission on security sector development [SSD] in Somalia”. The objective of this scoping mission was “to ensure Somali SSD experts are available to provide strategic advisory support to the TFG in the process of reviewing and implementing the National Security and Stabilization Plan (NSSP)”. The objective of this ISSAT project was to support the DPKO SSR Unit in delivering a briefing to those 18 experts, all former Somali defence and security officers, about tools and methods that they could use for their scoping mission.

The briefing on security sector scoping missions took place on 11 January 2011, at UNPOS in Nairobi, Kenya.  This briefing was part of a larger workshop during which the 18 Somali experts were introduced to the roles and approaches of the UN, UNPOS, UNDP, AMISOM, UNSOA, EU and US in supporting SSD in Somalia, and to the joint UN-AU-EU-US Security Sector Assessment of Somalia of late 2009. The briefing introduced participants to basic tools for conducting security sector scoping missions and put them through a practical exercise that will further familiarise them with those tools. Finally, ISSAT was expected to support the SSR Unit on 12 January 2011 in advising the Somali experts, as relevant, on the actual planning of their scoping work in Somalia.

ISSAT assisted UNDPKO to conduct a review of police activities within peacekeeping contexts with the aim of generating a better understanding how a remit such as “reform and restructuring” is approached and operationalized.  This knowledge was to enable the UN to better define appropriate tasks for UN police officers, to better gauge which tasks were feasible in a given conflict area or how they should be shaped, to select and train suitable personnel accordingly.

The review was conducted in parallel with and inform the development of the Strategic Doctrinal Framework for international police peacekeeping (SDF).

In order to meet the mission objectives, several phases of activities were required.

• Phase I – Review of existing UN material
• Phase II – Field Missions - Field missions to the police component of UN peacekeeping mission were undertaken to review the role played by the UN police. After each mission preliminary reports will be shared with the PD/OROLSI to feed into their policy development process.
• Phase III – a Final Report was developed and submitted to PD/OROLSI providing recommendations which were integrated into the SDF process.

Legal aid has been at the core of the engagement of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in the rule of law (RoL) sector since 2007 to help increase stability and security in the country. In particular, the Mission has been working with other international partners in order to expand the establishment of the Bureaux d’Assistance Légale (BAL) across Haiti.

A key partner of MINUSTAH, in this regard, is the Haiti Justice Sector Strengthening Programme (JSSP/USAID), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). To facilitate the access of Haitians, particularly those who are indigent and vulnerable, to legal advice, legal representation and mediation services, JSSP/USAID aims to support improvements to the BAL and explore alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Managed by the local bar associations, the general objectives of the BAL are to:

• Provide legal assistance to indigent persons including those held in pre-trial detention;
• Reduce the length of pre-trial detention;
• Reduce the level of violence and criminality in disadvantaged neighbourhoods;
• Ensure that access to justice is respected as a right, and that it is systematically enforced in criminal proceedings;
• Deliver civic education, including the training of community leaders; and
• Provide mediation services as an alternative dispute resolution method.

As MINUSTAH proceeds with its transitional planning and JSSP/USAID plans further support to legal aid, in light of the need for further improvement, the streamlining of procedures and methodology, as well as the strengthening of programme coordination, development and operational effectiveness, it is opportune to take stock of the good practices and lessons learned from the BAL initiatives.

Such a lessons learned study will feed into planning for the MINUSTAH transition and help to consolidate the legacy of the United Nations in developing the rule of law sector in Haiti. It will also help inform the DPKO Headquarters, other United Nations peace operations and United Nations funds and programs regarding the approaches applied in Haiti.

Building on the mechanism of the informal dialogue on Defence Sector Reform (DSR)  established between the three organizations, the workshop aims to provide a platform for exchange among experts and practitioners from the UN, EU and NATO. The workshop also presents an opportunity to expand the dialogue to other actors in the area of DSR, in particular the African Union and the Economics Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The workshop provides an opportunity to the appointed DSR focal points and relevant experts from partner organizations to identify practical challenges and possible approaches to enhance cooperation throughout the planning, implementation and monitoring of DSR support. This is intended to place the focus of the discussion on issues arising in practical cooperation, to ensure a more effective and efficient delivery of DSR in the field.

In his implementation report, and following the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) report of 2015, the UN Secretary-General “instructed the Police Division to undertake an external review of functions, structure and capacity, and to present results in my forthcoming report on UN policing.”

The independent review of the Police Division should focus on the Headquarters functions needed to implement the SGF, as well as departmental priorities, and, on that basis, assess how the Police Division should be structured and staffed in order to deliver those functions.

DPKO is requesting ISSAT to participate in and provide secretariat support to the work of the panel undertaking the independent review.