As our world is becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent, it is also becoming increasingly volatile and unpredictable. Along with this change, practitioners have been confronted with the ways that many of the tools and ways of thinking in common use simply don’t work in complex contexts. Thus, for more than a decade, global development actors have been experimenting with approaches to delivering aid that draws on the science of complex systems. These new methods and approaches are changing aid practice in promising ways, challenging old modes of thinking and doing, at the same time requiring practitioners to tool up in some very new ways. more information

While it seems that mental health issues among professionals working in humanitarian and fragile contexts are very much present, these issues seem to be yet invisible. As stated by Antares 2013 report, 30% of aid workers have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder. BREATHE International field experience working on humanitarian staff self-care and reports focusing on humanitarian and aid workers show that those professionals experience substantial levels of chronic stress, anxiety, depression and burnout.
In front of this alarming reality, the stigma remains high and the measures to prevent and deal with mental illnesses stay very low. From larger NGOs, intergovernmental organizations to grassroots entities face the challenge to have limited access to be provided with the relevant instruments to handle such situations. more information

Rule of Law (RoL) constitutes one of the Key Pillars of the substantive operations of the United Nations in peacekeeping and political field missions. Every UN Security Council Mandate includes a RoL mandate to Field Missions, and constitutes a key component of peacekeeping and peacebuilding activities of the United Nations, and also feature strongly in the mandates of most UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), or the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), to name but two of the largest entities of the UN with strong RoL mandates and activities. more information

This course proposes different means to build bridges between the different approaches, programmes and its target groups to foster durable solutions, stability, local economic development, and (re)integration of the different groups in their host- or receiving chosen communities. It explores responding to new realities, new practices and theories, including on (re)integration and prevention approaches in ongoing conflicts, recruitment and disengagement from extremist groups, sustainability of (re)integration, among others. more information

Recent decades witnessed a considerable increase in the number of UN presence in the field, either for post-conflict reconstruction, or with preventive and confidence-building functions and a corresponding increase in the number of UN personnel employed in the field. A growing number of UN field operations established in recent years, under either the coordination of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or other UN auspices such as UN peace and political missions, have included a human rights mandate. This intensification of field work is one of the most significant developments in the area of human rights protection and promotion over the past two decades. more information

Transitional justice, which addresses the causes and consequences of massive human rights violations, has always sought to break cycles of abuse, particularly in terms of the notion of guarantees of non-recurrence. It has only been more recently, however, that transitional justice has been articulated as an integral element of sustainable peace and development, and that guarantees of non-recurrence have been defined beyond the institutional sphere. It is crucial, therefore, for practitioners and policymakers to better understand the relationship between transitional justice and prevention. more information

The highest standards of ethics and conduct have always been expected from United Nations International Civil Servants and Military & Police officers serving with the United Nations. These standards are integral components of the core values of the Organization and have always been the subject of internal disciplinary processes. UN Investigators play a key role in ensuring compliance with the highest standards of conduct demanded of UN officials, and specifically in cases of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA). It is of utmost importance that Investigators be properly trained, in order to ensure highest standards of internal reports, on which UN disciplinary processes, and where appropriate, external criminal procedures will depend. more information

Legal Practice in United Nations Peacekeeping and Field Missions is very specialised and of very wide scope, requiring – in addition to a solid academic and practice legal background – command of the very specific circumstances of legal practice in Peacekeeping and Political Mission environments. A Legal Affairs Officer in a United Nations (UN) Field Mission is the source of advice to the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) on all legal aspects of the mission concept, the mission’s mandate and its operational activities, as well as any issue of international and national laws. Legal Offices also provide advice on administrative, personnel, financial and procurement matters related to the missions operational activities. more information

One of the most important roles in Field Missions is the gathering of information that enables missions to take decisions on appropriate actions to fulfil mandates effectively and safely. Peacekeeping Intelligence is an essential tool for the proper management and operability of field mission and the source of information to the mission leadership and to UNHQ. PI substantially informs the mission’s regular reports to the Security Council in cooperation with the Joint Operating Center and Joint Mission Analysis Centers (JOC, JMAC), Political and other substantive mission units like Protection of Civilians, Rule of Law and Civil Affairs. more information