Update of January 2007: The initial phase of this programme has now been completed. Operational activities will resume as soon as the fundig situation permits. In the meantime, this programme website remains online for information purposes only.


1. "I am a cilivian and I am really interested in your courses! Can I participate?"Not unless you have a strong link with UN peacekeeping already. You must be employed by a UN peacekeeping operation or at least work with such an operation closely, e.g. as a staff member of another UN organization, NGO activist, government representative, UN contractor etc. However, UNITAR's Correspondence Instruction in Peacekeeping Operations (UNITAR POCI) offers distance learning courses on various topics in UN peacekeeping which are open to a wider range of participants and which are, under certain conditions, available at no-cost or low-cost.

2. "I live and work in country XYZ. There is a conflict here; women and children suffer a lot. Can you organize a seminar in my country?"
Only if a UN peacekeeping mission is currently operating in your country.

3. "I work for the UN [or an NGO] that deals with gender [or child rights]. But there is no UN peacekeeping operation here. Can I participate in one of your courses?"
Very occasionally, if a candidate can demonstrate a strong professional interest and if a UN peacekeeping mission operates in a country not too far from his or hers, we may give a place in the seminar to such a candidate. Such a participant, however, will have to fund his or her own travel.

4. "I am a soldier [or a civilian police officer] in a peacekeeping operation. Can I participate?"
Normally not. The seminars are open to civilian staff only. In the UN system, CivPol (civilian police) officers do not count as "civilians." However, we regularly admit a few military and CivPol staff as "observers" to our seminars. Please contact UNITAR for further details. Another piece of good news is that UNITAR POCI offers distance learning courses on various topics in UN peacekeeping to military staff which are, under certain conditions, available at no-cost (e.g. to all African peacekeepers) or low-cost.

5. "Does UNITAR offer these seminars to staff of the UN's political and peace-building missions, too?"
Normally not. UNAMA (Afghanistan) was not really an exception because this operation is directed and supported by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Most "pure" political missions have not enough staff to warrant a separate training course. However, we would favourably consider the option of admitting staff members of such missions to UNITAR courses that take place nearby.

6. "So this is essentially an internal UN training programme, right? Why does UNITAR advertise it on a public website, then?"
Yes, the vast majority of seminar participants are UN staff members. However, the seminars are also open to NGO activists, government representatives and other persons who have a strong professional link with the targeted peacekeeping operation. Both UN staff and "outsiders" visit our website to learn more about these seminars. It is also a resource that is regularly used by researchers, writers and students.

7. "How does UNITAR decide which peacekeeping operation will be next to receive training?"
In making these decisions, UNITAR seeks advice from the Integrated Training Service of the Department for Peacekeeping Operations, with whom we coordinate our activities very closely.

8. "Bingo, I do actually work in a UN peacekeeping operation as a civilian staff member! I want to participate in a seminar. What must I do?"
Find out if UNITAR is coming to your mission (see our schedule). If it is, contact your mission's Training Section to enquire about registration. If your mission has not yet been trained, speak to the person in charge of civilian training in your mission. Express your interest and ask this person to contact UNITAR or the DPKO Integrated Training Service at UN Headquarters if your mission wants to host a UNITAR seminar.

9. "I bet the UN peacekeeping operation I work with would be keen to host your seminar. But it is such a lot of work to organize all this, and we have no budget either…"
No cash input from a mission's training budget is normally required. These seminars are a service that UNITAR can donate to peacekeeping operations, thanks to support from our donors UNFIP and Switzerland. As a result, UNITAR will absorb most costs. The target mission usually makes in-kind contributions, e.g. by providing UNITAR with transport in the mission area. Most of the practical work (planning and implementing the seminar) will be done by UNITAR, too. The mission must share part of this workload, but it is likely to be less stressful than organizing a training event all by yourself.

10. "UNITAR has already been to my mission, but that was XYZ years ago and I was not even working in the mission then! Are you coming back?"
We will try our best. We can only train a few missions per year. So far our focus has been to train as many different peacekeeping operations as possible rather than return to an operation previously served. However, UNITAR POCI offers distance learning courses on various topics to local, civilian, military, and international peacekeeping staff as well as UNVs which are, under certain conditions, available at low-cost or no-cost.

11. "I work in a UN peacekeeping operation, but I am 'only' a G staff / gender is not part of my job / I am 'only' a UNV / I am a locally recruited staff member. But I am very interested in the seminar! Can I participate?"
Yes of course! (If your supervisor releases you to attend the seminar.)

12. "I am not a UN staff member, but I fall under the category of 'other persons' whom you are addressing with your training. Will I be treated differently from participating UN staff?"
No. In particular, the training is free of charge (excluding travel costs) to all participants.

13. "I am not a peacekeeper, but I do research in an area that is closely linked to your work. Can I ask you a few questions, interview you, come to your office and talk to you?"
Yes. Please let us know what precisely you have in mind so that we can fix an appointment.

14. "Are there other peacekeeping training programmes that are less restrictive in admitting participants? Perhaps any courses that prepare people for a future career in peacekeeping?"
Yes. UNITAR itself offers such a programme, our Correspondence Instruction in Peacekeeping Operations (UNITAR POCI). See www.unitarpoci.org for details. You must pay a fee to enroll in this programme and take courses. However, UNITAR POCI's courses are now free of charge for African peacekeepers.

15. "Can I obtain publications or training material from you?"
We do prepare packages of training material for each seminar participant, but the content is tailored to the circumstances of the targeted peacekeeping operation rather than suitable for general self-study. Besides, we keep no spares of theses packages apart from one or two archive sets. However, a lot of documentation on women and children in peace and security is available on-line. See our links page for some suggestions or search the Official Documents System of the United Nations for relevant UN documents.

16. "What is the training language in the UNITAR seminars?"
English, which is the universal "UN peacekeeping language." For peacekeeping operations in French-speaking countries additional, identical seminars are often organized in French so that staff members have a choice.

17. "I would like to be a trainer in one of your seminars!"
Please contact us if you have a track record in gender or child protection as well as previous field and/or training experience. We are particularly keen to hear from you if you reside in or close to a country where a UNITAR seminar is scheduled to take place (see our schedule).

18. "I participated in a seminar but never got [or lost] my certificate. Can you issue a replacement?"
We maintain records of all participants who have ever attended one of our seminars. You are only entitled to a certificate if you attended the seminar in its entirety, which is something we can verify with our records. If you had a certificate, but lost it, we cannot recreate your original certificate, but can issue a confirmation that you have attended the course.
 

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