The seminar gave SWEDINT and its partners the possibility to engage in a dialogue and discuss subjects concerning education and preparation for peacekeeping operations, and yielded recommendations in these areas for the future.
“There are several potential future scenarios with complex and asymmetric security threats facing UN peace support operations today”, says SWEDINT Commanding Officer, Colonel Peter Fredriksson.“Given the increasingly difficult contexts in which peacekeepers must do their work, it is imperative that the UN continue to improve its preparedness and capability to counter threats to the security and safety of the personnel deployed on such operations.”
The seminar focused on a number of key subjects within the areas of: Leadership; Management of lessons and experiences; Competence; and Efficiency. Each subject was introduced by two members of the SWEDINT Advisory Board and afterwards discussed by the Board and seminar participants. Some of the recommendations centered around education in leadership; access to senior mentors; improved coordination in rotation and deployment; improved language skills and in-mission training an education.
“It was great to meet UN colleagues, some which I had not met but only heard and spoken of”, said General Abhijit Guha from India, one of the Board members. “More importantly I was extremely glad to come to a centre like this. I feel that it is one of the best equipped I have seen. And I carry back with me many memories of how to get things done better, so I have learned a lot from them.”
The advisory board at SWEDINT is a consultative body of international experts from around the world with extensive knowledge and experience of peace support operations and conflict resolution: Ambassador Anders Kompass, Sweden; General Santos Cruz, UN SRSG, Brazil; Ambassador Ellen Löj, Denmark; General Abhijit Guha, UN DPKO, India; Dr Cedric de Coning, NUPI, South Africa; Dr Adriana Abdenur, Instituto Igarapé, Brazil; General Francis Okello, African Union, Uganda; Police Commissioner Riana Paneras, UN Office at the African Union.