CenterWorks

The Center for Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance Quarterly

Center for Excellence

Building Capacity for Peace Operations

Narrowly defined peacekeeping missions are things of the past. Mission 'end states' - when the objectives set out for a mission have been achieved - are evolving into more complex, longer-lasting 'post-conflict peace building' efforts. Complicating the tasks in peace operations are non-state actors, terrorists, and international criminals who take advantage of failed states. Often, failed states relapse into turmoil after considerable money and effort have been spent to stabilize them. To overcome these relapses into conflict, peace operations have evolved from a traditional 'separation of forces' role to more complex multi-disciplinary operations. This necessitates new approaches to training and education.

To date, COE has conducted 21 multi-national seminars designed to educate, inform, and update the policy-makers and planners of countries that participate in peace operations. These seminars emphasize the multidimensional aspects of peace operations in today's world by gathering not only military personnel from many levels, but also civilians from federal governments, UN personnel, civilian police, academics, and humanitarian aid workers. Participants gain a greater appreciation for the complexities of modern peace operations through presentations as well as discussions that take place in small group sessions.

Recently, COE co-sponsored a seminar entitled "Enhancing Peacekeeping Capacity", along with the Malaysian Ministry of Defence, Malaysian Armed Forces, U.S. Pacific Command, and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The 49 seminar participants from 18 nations explored currently available, internationally accepted peacekeeping training and planning tools; discussed the tools' applicability, strengths, and shortcomings; and recommended improvements. They also analyzed the procedures currently available to assist militaries to enhance their peacekeeping capacity. The seminar ran from September 11-15, 2006 at the Malaysian Peacekeeping Training Centre in Port Dickson, Malaysia.

Participants completed evaluation forms at the conclusion of the event, to guide development of future seminars. Overall, participants were satisfied with the training. They felt that the seminar mostly met its objectives; presentations were good; and Subject Matter Experts were very knowledgeable. The participants suggested topics for future seminars, such as humanitarian assistance in peacekeeping operations; negotiation and mediation; and stress management.

The primary goal of COE's seminars is to build capacity for training peacekeepers. Past seminars have focused on topics such as establishing peacekeeping training centers, logistics in peace operations, exit strategies, and civil-military cooperation in peace operations. For more information on past seminars, including event reports, as well as announcements of upcoming peace support seminars, visit www.coe-dmha.org/peaceops.htm.

Civil-Military Relations (CIV-MIL) Unit

Welcome to the Civil-Military Relations Unit (Civ-Mil). Currently, there are three members in the unit: Mr. Kevin Delmour, the Program Manger/Unit Leader and Exercise Manager; Mr. Richard Huwel, Stability Operations/Disaster Management Specialist and Project Support Manger; and Mr. John Derick, Peace Operations Advisor.

Allow me to take a few lines to explain our philosophy within the Civ-Mil Unit. Humanitarian relief in the past has been an ad-hoc affair for civilian relief agencies and the military alike. Civ-Mil designs its training program around the following topics: understanding of the roles and comparative advantages of military and civilian entities in providing humanitarian assistance in crises, supporting transitions to stability, and protecting transition progress in a range of environments. The Civ-Mil Unit offers assistance with training exercises, complete with scenario development, gaming, and processes to plan and prepare for emergency response, whether natural, man-made, or a complex emergency. Training focuses on the application of concepts for response. Gaming pursues a structured sequence of sessions in which players respond to scenarios under a set of constraints that might be found in a disaster response. Training offers practical methods of teaching that offer several advantages: it develops insights into complex problems and issues, generates policy options not previously considered, and provides a laboratory for synthesis of diverse information and opinions. It also allows the examination of other viewpoints, positions, and potential solutions to problems in a controlled environment. Further, it provides a networking forum for participants with the actual people and within the actual roles they would take in a disaster situation. On occasion, such as during responses to the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the February 2006 Leyte Mudslide, members of the Civ-Mil Unit have participated in operational support to include working at Headquarters, Pacific Command or actual deployment to the affected region.

Annually, the Civ-Mil Unit co-sponsors several multilateral peacekeeping events in the Asia-Pacific region with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO). Each event brings together military and civilian representatives from approximately 20 nations to examine various planning and operational challenges to increasing national and regional capabilities to support international peace operations.

In its exercise support program, the Civ-Mil Unit provides technical assistance in planning, scenario development, and role-playing to integrate the complex issues and emerging trends in multi-dimensional operations into international military exercises. The Civ-Mil Unit facilitates the participation of a diverse array of civilian actors to help create a more realistic military training experience. Some of the exercises that the Civ-Mil Unit supports include: Cobra Gold, Balikatan, Talisman Sabre, and Keris Strike. Other events supported by the Civ-Mil Unit include participation in the annual International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centers (IAPTC) Conference, and support to the UNDPKO Standardized Training Module (STM) development program. Areas in which the Civ-Mil Unit is developing new initiatives include Stability Operations and Disaster Management.

About Us | Contact Us | ©2007 Center for Excellence DMHA