ACCORD’s Peacekeeping Analyst, Gustavo de Carvalho, recently joined Chiefs of Civil Affairs from UN field missions to discuss and coordinate efforts aimed at improving their work at a meeting in New York.
The Heads of Civil Affairs meeting held from 14-18 June provided the Peacekeeping Unit with an opportunity to present a draft Civil Affairs Handbook ACCORD is developing with UN DPKO through the Training for Peace (TfP) Programme.
The Handbook will be a key reference tool for new Civil Affairs officers, and will cover the three main areas of their work (as well as a number of cross-cutting issues) including:
- cross-mission representation, monitoring and facilitation at the local level;
- confidence-building, conflict management and reconciliation; and
- support to the restoration and extension of state authority.
The presentation to the Heads of Civil Affairs generated ownership of the handbook by its important end-users – the civil affairs component of the UN – and provided an opportunity for them to contribute to the handbook and the drafting process. ACCORD was able to gauge expectations, first impressions and feedback on the material before the final draft gets published.
ACCORD’s Peacekeeping Unit is anticipating the final draft of the Handbook in September/October 2010. It will be launched at an induction course for new Civil Affairs Officers in early October 2010.
