POLICY BRIEF 2014:3 Strategic Guidance Framework for International Police Peacekeeping – Capacity-Building and Development

The thematic meeting on Strategic Guidance Framework for International Police Peacekeeping (SGF)— Capacity-Building and Development sought to discuss and garner input for the development of more specific guidance on the themes and principles pertaining to capacity-building and development essential parts of the emerging UN Police Policy. The thematic meeting was hosted 19–21 March 2014 in Oslo by the UN Police Division and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) as a Challenges Forum Partner.

The UN Police Division Thematic Meeting on Capacity- Building and Development took place at an important point of time in the development of UN police peacekeeping guidance. In development since 2009, with feedback provided through a comprehensive consultative process open to all 193 UN Member States and involving five regional meetings, the DPKO/DFS Policy on United Nations Police2 in Peacekeeping Operations and Special Political Missions (UN Police Policy) was approved and took effect in February 2014. This document set the scene and the agenda for the discussions at the Oslo joint event, as the overarching policy document that henceforth governs UN police peacekeeping.

The Oslo meetings marked the first event in a multi-year doctrinal process which will see the development of a cascading architecture of guidance composed of policy documents, thematic guidance, technical manuals and training materials. As noted by Dmitry Titov, Assistant Secretary- General for the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions in DPKO, a new era in police peacekeeping has commenced through the Strategic Guidance Framework for International Police Peacekeeping (SGF) and the development of a common reference framework for United Nations Police (UNPOL) officers in four core areas of UN policing; namely:

• Police Command;
• Police Operations;
• Police Administration; and
• Police Capacity-Building & Development.

This constitutes a vital step towards improving performance of UN police officers through the articulation of a clear and crystalized vision of what UN policing wants to achieve on the ground, how it needs to be done as well as a common professional language.