18 September 2008

"I am a kind of journalist-advisor," says David Forest, a UNV volunteer Political Affairs Officer with the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB). "I have to follow and analyse political and socio-economic developments in Burundi… and report them back to the UN."

UNV volunteer Political and Civil Affairs Officers like Mr. Forest are an interface between the UN peacekeeping missions to which they are assigned, and the country at large. The reports they produce help the local government and UN mission understand potential causes of violence, which impacts on their future priorities.

Civil Affairs Officers are often among the closest in touch with the population, working on peace- and confidence-building issues at a grassroots level. They liaise between local authorities, civil society, communities and the UN mission, make needs assessments based on the local circumstances they investigate, and frequently recommend projects for future implementation.

Eliana Rueda is a Civil Affairs Officer with the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT). "To accomplish our tasks we closely coordinate the team's actions with all the different actors present in the field," she explains. "Through Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) we seek to contribute to the reinforcement of state authority, the promotion of intercommunity dialogue, and the creation of conditions for a safe and sustainable return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)," she adds.

Reporting and peace-building work such as this requires an appreciation of how conflicts might erupt. National UNV volunteer Civil Affairs Officers such as Lubna Abdalla Lasu in Sudan bring an additional added value to their roles: local understanding.

A key issue in her area of operations is cattle rustling. "Most of the youth are unemployed, so they steal cattle to sell and do business with and also, unfortunately, to buy weapons," she explains. Dealing with the situation also requires sensitivity to the local culture and society, something Ms. Lasu is well placed to explain to the UN mission and local authorities.

Political Affairs Officers, on the other hand, move at a more central level and work directly with governments. Claire Whelan is a UNV volunteer Political Affairs Officer with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). She comments that her political affairs work shows that peacekeeping is about more than 'Blue Helmets' or distributing aid. It is also, she says, "about working within the difficulties of a framework of political sensitivities and dilemmas that the UN has to deal with in order to create the space needed for the blue helmets and aid distribution."

Thus UNV volunteers like her make a behind-the-scenes contribution to the inner workings of UN missions and the reconstruction of good governance in countries transitioning from conflict. And by helping the authorities understand where and when civil and political tension may develop, they help prevent dramas becoming crises.

Read David Forest's report here (in French)
Read Lubna Abdalla Lasu's report here
Read Eliana Rueda's report here
Read Claire Whelan's report here

See also Sophie Picavet's diary of a week in the life of a Civil Affairs Officer in Haiti