BACKGROUND PAPER Building Partnerships for Capacity-Building of Peacekeepers

This paper examines the types of capacity-building partnerships that are required, given the changing nature of peace operations and the increased complexity of modern missions and environments. It looks at the possibilities for cooperation within the wider international community for ensuring that peacekeepers in the future will be identified, prepared and equipped to meet the challenges of modern peace operations.

The paper identifies the areas where the activities and efforts of capacity-building need to focus, suggests the types of partnerships that are necessary, and proposes ways and methodologies of designing such partnerships and the additional tools that such partnerships might employ. It further proposes how the current international system might adapt its approaches to capacity-building in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of preparing for modern peace operations. The paper takes into account a number of relevant considerations in the current UN project on Training Architecture. It also focuses on the most challenging aspect of capacity-building, namely that of preparing peacekeepers through education and training and equipping them with the requisite skills for today’s complex and dangerous missions.