UNITED NATIONS STAFF OFFICERS COURSE – 24
Gen. United Nations Staff Officers Course- 24 (UNSOC-24) was conducted at Centre for International Peace and Stability (CIPS), NUST Islamabad from 16 Sep to 27 Sep 2019 with a purpose to educate / sensitize the participants about UN functioning, basic principles, guidelines and policies with the objective to guide participants so that they can carry out critical tasks to assist countries in the transition from conflict to peace as well as the duties / role they will perform as Staff Officers (SOs) in FHQ/ SHQ.
Participation. 26 x Officers participated in the course. Thirteen officers from Pakistan Armed Forces and Thirteen officers from friendly countries attended the course. The foreign participants were from Bangladesh, Bahrain, China, Egypt, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
Instructors. Permanent peacekeeping training faculty members PKY training team and an instructor each from Malaysia Peacekeeping Training institute and a lady instructor ex Pakistan Army, who is also on the panel of UN Mobile Training Team imparted training to the participants.
Conduct Methodology. The course was conducted as per Integrated Training Service (ITS) developed training materials, the Core Pre-Deployment Training Materials (CPTMs), and as well as Specialized Training Materials (STMs) for the Staff Officers. DPO/DOS guidance materials such as peacekeeping training policies, standard operating procedures, guidelines and cross-cutting peacekeeping training strategies were also referred during the training. Subject Matters Experts (SMEs) of their specific fields like UNWOMEN, UNOCHA, UNHCR, UNAIDS , Health related matters experts from Pakistan Army also delivered lectures. The activities undertaken were:
Classroom Learning Activity. Besides presentation/ discussions interactive sessions were also held wherein students took part. Many lessons were learnt during the course of discussion.
CARANA Ex. CARANA Ex was conducted during the last phase of the course as per the UN ITS requirement. It was designed to test the ability of the staff officers in understanding the mission environment and the headquarters functioning of the Force and Sector Headquarters (FHQ and SHQ) in a multi-dimensional peacekeeping operation. The participating staff officers were exposed to different operational situations which will require them to carry out in-depth analysis of the events taking place; keep them effectively engaged during the development of the operations; so that they will be able to plan and prepare to deal with the unforeseen situations as the exercise progresses. It was run as a two tier wherein officers were evenly distributed in FHQ and SHQ and were given appointments as per UN organizations.
Extra-Curricular Activities. The foreign participants visited Army Museum, Pakistan monument, Lok Versa, archaeological site of the ancient Indian subcontinent near Taxila, Army School of Logistic (ASL), Kuldana and Golf Club Bhurban, Murree . Farewell Dinner was hosted at a Hill resort at Monal near Islamabad. They were also taken to different markets around Islamabad for sightseeing / shopping on different dates and as per the schedule/ request of students.
Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony of the course was held on 28 Sep 2018. After the welcome address by Principal NIPCOS, HoD PKT gave a comprehensive briefing which was followed by Certificate Award Ceremony. His Excellency. The Ambassadors of Ukraine Mr. Volodymyr Lakomov was invited as the chief Guest. DA’s of Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, China, Nigeria, Malaysia and Ukraine were also present in the ceremony. The Ambassador of Ukraine distributed certificates to the successful participants.
Closing Remarks by Ukraine Ambassador. HE The Ambassador of Ukraine to Pakistan Mr. Volodymyr Lakomov highly appreciated the contributions made by Pakistan Army in peacekeeping and commended CIPS on its achievement in a short span of few years. He mentioned that bond between both the countries is strengthening. He desired that the association between Pakistan and Ukraine in peacekeeping domain should continue to grow with exchange of students, faculty’s members and sharing of information/Lesson Learnt.
Presentation of Souvenirs. At the end of ceremony, Principal NIPCONS presented CIPS shields to both the dignitaries’ along with copies of CIPS Journal/ Magazine.
(Click on the photograph to see more pictures of the course)