Introduction
UN senior mission leadership development is a key strategic issue highlighted by both the 2015 UN High Level Panel Report
on all aspects of Peace Operations and the 2015 Presidential
Memorandum on ‘US Support to United Nations (UN) Peace
Operations’ and was the principal topic addressed by Working
Group 2.
The US Presidential Summit on Peacekeeping in September
2015 and the 2014/15 UN Training Architecture Review were
also reviewed as discussion points to address training deficiencies.
The Training Need
The Multicultural (involving civilian, military, and police components), Multidimensional (with multiple objectives and lines
of activity) and Multinational aspects of today’s peace operations require an integrated comprehensive approach.
Moreover the complexities and challenges of such operations
require that the international response be, to the degree possible
and practical, an effective multinational effort. Peace operations
leadership is not something that can be learned ‘on-the-job’
while in the heat of a multitude of challenges and tasks and in
a difficult security environment. The leaders selected for these
operations, however, arrive with varying degrees of preparation,
experience and understanding of the various dimensions and
components required to achieve mission success.
A fundamental requirement for all involved in peace operations,
especially senior leaders, is a firm understanding and ability to
execute effective coordinated civilian-military-police activities.
It is only through the integrated education and training of civilian, military and police components that many challenges and
impediments to civilian-military-police relations can be overcome, fostering closer cooperation and coordination.
In addition to the education and training of senior leaders, the
WG also considered much of the knowledge, skills and attributes of senior leaders need to be enhanced among key staff,
advisors and mid-level management - uniformed and civilian
personnel.
Work Group Objectives and Deliverables
Against this background and understanding of peace operations, WG#2 addressed the subject of educating and training
(senior) leaders from four perspectives: an identification of the
key competences for a leader with regard to knowledge, skills
and attributes (KSA); identification of the resources available
or required to deliver training needs; identification of opti-
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mal delivery methods; and, identification of a community of
practice to advance such education and training From there the
Working Group developed ten recommendations to further the
development and training of UN senior leaders. These recommendations will be shared with International Association of
Peacekeeping Training Centers and the International Forum for
the Challenges of Peace Operations.
I – Leader Key Competencies
The heart of the requisite knowledge competency was deemed
to be understanding civilian-military-police relations and the
multi-dimensional facets of peace operations. A senior leader
must also be knowledgeable of key current challenges, such as
Protection of Civilians (PoC), while promoting the highest
standards of conduct, especially in the field of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA).
Key attributes for senior leaders were adaptability (across organizations and cultures); building partnering relationships; and
problem solving collaboration techniques. Other highly valued
leadership attributes were flexibility, charisma, integrity, courage, patience, character, vision, tenacity and inspiration. Other
‘desirable’ skills in a peace operations leader might be: communication, team building, diplomacy, adaptability, time/resource/
financial management, negotiation and mediation, and proficiency in the common mission language.
The WG suggested packaging the KSAs into a desirable
leadership traits ‘profile’, which would act as a template for
selecting leaders and senior staff. The profile could be a baseline for institutes involved in the development of professional education and training programs.
II – Leadership Training Resources Available
The WG acknowledged that the UN Senior Mission Leaders
course (SML) is the principal mechanism for the education and
training of senior leaders. Variants of the UN SML course were
developed by the African Union, European Union (EU) (EU
crisis management missions), and the Center for Civil-Military
Relations (CCMR).
The UN should develop and maintain oversight of SML
content, especially if participants are to be qualified for leadership in UN missions. The WG concluded the UN could SML
program could benefit 3 ‘international’ contributions:
• More systematic funding from UN Member States and/or
donor organizations
• Identification of qualified subject matter experts and course
facilitators