The title of S-1832 was drawn from the function series PKH.MAT001 from the “Peacekeeping Headquarters Retention Schedule,” v. 2, August 2011, Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and Department of Field Support (DFS).
Records contained in S-1832 document policy, procedure, and best practice relating to DPKO’s administration of peacekeeping missions, and DPKO’s contribution to peacekeeping strategy and response within the United Nations system. Records pertaining to military policy, procedure and best practice in peacekeeping operations have been assigned to S-1828.
Included in S-1832 are records documenting coordination between DPKO and other United Nations departments and agencies regarding the management of peacekeeping operations; summaries of meetings of the DPKO Directors and of the DPKO Senior Management Team; and fact sheets about deployed missions. There are also briefs and draft submissions about DPKO’s collaboration with the General Assembly’s Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. There are also final and draft versions of the Guidelines for Peacekeeping, authored by DPKO in the early 1990s about the history of peacekeeping in the context of the United Nations, and the principles, functions and operational tasks of peacekeeping operations. Dating from 1997 is a draft of the DPKO-authored Survey Mission Manual, which provided guidelines for the collection and analysis of information gathered by UN personnel while conducting field surveys for peacekeeping missions in conflict areas.
S-1832 contains updated and final versions of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for peacekeeping missions dating from 1979 to 2005. There are also directives for Special Representatives of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and Heads of Mission (HOM), which describe the HOM’s: authority; relations with parties in conflict, Member States, donors and the media; and reporting responsibilities. The files also contain executive summaries and recommendation reports of Forums of Former Special Representatives of the Secretary-General (SRSG). Also present are guidelines issued for civilian personnel employed in peacekeeping missions. There are also memoranda, letters, and briefs outlining regulations for the awarding of medals to United Nations peacekeepers, and noting the significance of the colors of medal ribbons.
Also included in S-1832 are records, about organizational changes within DPKO, primarily dating from the 1990s. These include papers of the DPKO Working Group on Organizational Redesign, proposed organization charts, and briefs on staffing. Several files contain information about the establishment and activities of the following DPKO divisions and offices: the Field Administration and Logistics Division (FALD); the Mission Planning Service; the DPKO Situation Centre; the Medical Support Unit; the Training Unit; the Demining Unit; and the United Nations Logistics Base in Brindisi, Italy. Records include operational concepts of the Situation Centre, maps of the Logistics Base in Brindisi, and guidelines dating from 1993 on medical service in peacekeeping missions.
Information about human resources management policy and procedure in DPKO and in peacekeeping operations is also included in S-1832. Memoranda and correspondence detail a variety of topics, including: recruitment of DPKO personnel; gratis military personnel in DPKO; rotation, discipline, and repatriation of Military Observers and Civilian Police in peacekeeping missions; the deaths of mission personnel; proposed changes to staff regulations and rules; gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping; the advancement of women in DPKO; and other topics.
S-1832 also contains chronological files of the Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit (PBPU); the Policy Analysis and Lessons Learned Unit (PALLU), the Policy and Analysis Unit (PAU), and the Lessons Learned Unit (LLU). The Policy and Analysis Unit was set up within the DPKO in 1993 and served as a think tank to provide in-depth research and analyses of emerging questions related to peacekeeping policy, procedure, and doctrine. The Lessons Learned Unit was set up within the DPKO in 1995 to provide a capacity for in-depth study and analysis of experiences from peacekeeping operations; to draw out lessons that could be applied to on-going and future operations; and to develop an institutional memory for peacekeeping operations. In July 1999 the Policy and Analysis Unit merged with the Lessons Learned Unit to form the Policy Analysis and Lessons Learned Unit. In 2001, the Policy Analysis and Lessons Learned Unit was renamed the Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit.
The chronological files include summaries of weekly meetings of the Lessons Learned Unit; correspondence and itineraries related to trips undertaken by LLU staff to peacekeeping missions to develop lessons learned profiles; briefs on the field coordination of Special Representatives of the Secretary-General (SRSG), United Nations Resident Coordinators, and Humanitarian Coordinators; outlines describing the annual programme of work for the Lessons Learned Unit; memoranda on minimum age requirements for United Nations peacekeepers; and briefs on the commemoration of 50 years of United Nations peacekeeping. Additionally, the files hold correspondence, participant lists, itineraries, public addresses, and final reports related to seminars attended or organized by the Lessons Learned Unit.
There are also talking points and briefs prepared by the staff of the Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit (PBPU) for meetings and speaking engagements of the Secretary-General, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, and the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping. Records also contain comments by PBPU for the Secretary-General’s Annual Report on the Work of the Organization. There are also summaries of meetings held by the Under-Secretary-General with United States government officials, Permanent Representatives to the United Nations, ambassadors, and representatives of United Nations agencies. Meetings topics include promotion and support of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations; strengthening UN relations with regional organizations; United States support for peacekeeping operations; representation of Member States in United Nations peacekeeping operations; preventive action; peace-building strategy; and AIDS and peacekeeping operations. Also included are program agenda and speeches delivered by the Under-Secretary-General at seminars and conferences at non-profit and educational institutions.
Chronological files also include essays and discussion papers on such topics as Security Council decision-making on mission transition and closure; the role of non-state actors, such as transnational corporations and financial institutions, in intra-state conflict; private sector engagement in international peace and security; the reform process of United Nations peace operations; early warning and conflict prevention; harnessing institutional capacity in support of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former combatants; the impact of armed conflict on children; the impact of armed conflict on women and women’s role in peace-building; gender mainstreaming in peace operations; the protection of civilians in armed conflict; public information as a strategic component in peace operations; the role of peacekeeping in the process of democratization; the security and neutrality of refugee camps; the role of police in peacekeeping operations; and humanitarian assistance in the context of peacekeeping operations.
S-1832 also contains materials related to DPKO seminars and workshops on the role of police in peacekeeping operations attended by representatives of Member States, United Nations agencies, and representatives of regional organizations and non-governmental organizations. These include the Seminar on the Role of Police in Peacekeeping Operations, held in New York on 19-21 March 1998; the (first) Follow-up Workshop on Civilian Police in United Nations Peacekeeping held on 29-30 July 1999; and the Second Follow-up Workshop on Civilian Police in United Nations Peacekeeping, held in New York on 11 August 2000. Records for police seminars and workshops include daily programmes; speeches by the Under-Secretary-General; handwritten notes taken during discussions; correspondence between DPKO and invitees; and statistics on the scope of police activity on peacekeeping operations. Discussion papers and speeches concern such topics as standards for recruitment of police from contributing countries; coordination between Civilian Police and military contingents, and between the police component in the field and DPKO headquarters; the political role of police in peacekeeping; international coordination in assisting judicial, penal, and human rights institutions; policing needs resulting from refugee flows; and the role of police in a follow-on peacekeeping presence.
Also included in S-1832 are summaries of meetings of the Senior Management Group (SMG), established in 1997 by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as a cabinet of senior officers to advise and ensure coordination between all organs of the United Nations. The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations served as a member of the Senior Management Group. Topics covered in meetings include priorities for the Secretary-General and the United Nations; long-term objectives in establishing international peace and security; developments in peacekeeping missions; analyses of statements made at the General Debate meetings of the General Assembly; activities in departments and offices of the Secretariat; fraud and corruption in the United Nations; gender balance and geographical distribution in the United Nations; human rights objectives for the United Nations; the Millennium Development Goals; perceptions of the United Nations among Member States; North-South relations and the United Nations; anti-Americanism in the United Nations; economic development in the Third World; the global fight against terrorism and the events of September 11, 2001; global disarmament; international migration; protection from sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian crises; HIV/AIDS initiatives; global science and technology initiatives; climate change and the environment; and United Nations responses to natural disasters. Records also include annotated agenda; correspondence exchanged between members of the Senior Management Group; background papers; and handwritten notes taken during meetings.
The Senior Management Group was assisted by four executive committees, also established in 1997: the Executive Committee on Peace and Security (ECPS), the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs (ECHA), the UN Development Group (UNDG), and the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs (ECESA).
The Executive Committee on Peace and Security (ECPS) functioned within the Secretariat as a policy development and management instrument on issues of peace and security. The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations served as members of the Committee. Records consist of agenda; background briefs and memoranda prepared for ECPS members in advance of meetings; email; papers detailing possible scenarios and proposed United Nations system responses; and meeting summaries.
A sampling of agenda items for ECPS meetings includes conflict in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR); narcotics trafficking in Afghanistan; political, military, and human rights developments in Afghanistan and Central Asia; the crisis and the way forward in the Côte d’Ivoire; the Sudan peace process; peace and security in central Africa; monitoring developments in Nepal, Venezuela, Iraq, and other countries; terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMD); the implications of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the post-September 11th international situation; and the prevention of genocide.
Also included are records of the Task Force for the Development of Comprehensive Rule of Law Strategies for Peace Operations, a subsidiary body of the ECPS.
The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping as well as other DPKO officials served on the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs (ECHA). Summaries of meetings detail activities of United Nations departments and agencies involved in humanitarian relief operations; humanitarian relief operations in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Sudan, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Afghanistan, the Ferghana Valley in Central Asia, Indonesia, Colombia, and other countries; relations between the United Nations and the European Union with respect to development and humanitarian affairs; drought in the Horn of Africa; strengthening the United Nations’ field capacity to address issues concerning refugees and internally displaces persons (IDP); resettlement initiatives; access constraints experienced in the field by United Nations and international agencies; the protection of civilians in armed conflict; the problems of girls and women in conflict situations; and natural disasters. There are also agenda; background papers and briefs; and ECHA proposals for the Secretary-General’s annual priorities.