THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE: AN APPROACH TO TRAINING FOR UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE: AN APPROACH TO TRAINING FOR UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

The sense of euphoria towards UN peacekeeping operations PKOs suffered a grave setback in the wake of Somalia, former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and to some extent Angola in the 1990s. The recommendations of the Brahimi Panel1 , to a great extent, have provided an able way to tide over structural and conceptual deficiencies noticed during the conduct of complex PKOs in this period. The world body recognized the requirement for change through restructuring and strengthening the UN capabilities to conduct PKOs in the 21st century.

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  • 1 Recommendations of the Brahimi Panel, UN document A/55/305-S/2000/809 of 21 August 2000.
  • 2 Sergio Vieira De Mello, in an interview to the BBC, 48 hours before the ghastly terror strike on the UN office complex in Baghdad in August 2003.
  • 3 Recommendations of the Brahimi Panel, August 2000.
  • 4 Tonya Cook, International Civilian Police, paper for Peaceworks-43 by the US Institute of Peace, June 2001.
  • 5 Ibid.
  • 6 Barry M Blechman & J Matthew Vaccaro, Training for Peacekeeping: The United Nations Role, The Henry L Stimson Center, Washington, July 1994.
  • 7 Introduction, Peaceworks-43, June 2001.
  • 8 Satish Nambiar, Lt Gen (retd), Director USI, speaking to UN Military Observers’ Course at the Centre for UN Peacekeeping, New Delhi, November 2002