by Dilip Shrestha

28 July 2008

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire: I am a professional civil engineer from Nepal working in the Engineering Section of the United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) since July 2007. I have 15 years of work experience in the field of engineering and construction and was invited to share my thoughts on my assignment within this mission.

This is my first experience in a UN peacekeeping mission. During these brief nine months, I had the opportunity to work on several engineering projects, not just in the Engineering Section but also in Sector Headquarters (Daloa) and the International Military Headquarters (IMHQ). The nature of the work is quite different in all these three locations and enabled me to learn the UN system and construction technology based on crisis management, which was rather new to me.

Initially, I worked for four months in a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) construction project in Kani, which is 190 km north of Daloa. After completing the project, I returned to the Sector HQ, Daloa. I worked there for about three months as Chief of Construction Unit. I was subsequently again redeployed in February 2008, this time to IMHQ, Abidjan, in the Construction Unit.

The working atmosphere in the mission is quite different from other organizations I have worked for. In general, I have encountered two types of work here: one type is planned, regular tasks and the other is emergency tasks. These need immediate action, meaning working under pressure.

In addition to this, there are also constraints in time and resources. To wrap up, I could say we should have sufficient knowledge about crisis management and have the interpersonal relationships necessary to accomplish the work within the specified time, and I find it to be very challenging.

My most daunting task in the mission was to construct the DDR camp, which was my first construction project undertaken under a joint (civilian and military) effort and which was finally very successful. Recently, something interesting was added to my responsibilities. I received the opportunity to work as an Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Construction and Building Maintenance Unit for the period of one month and found the job very challenging and worthwhile.

The most recent assignment I led was the planning and implementation of (re-)construction work to make the physical environment and premises of Sebroko more conducive to the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. For these latest efforts, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Mr. Y.J. Choi thanked us specifically in his email to all ONUCI staff!

Right now, with the security situation of Côte d’Ivoire improving, redeployments of peacekeeping troops are being planned and implemented accordingly. This means (for us) that many camps are being closed, others expanded but also that new camps are being constructed. All in all, in these weeks, the Engineering Section is facing an extraordinary workload.

I would like to share a final thought I have often toyed with during this nine-month service period. Having worked within the UNOCI offices, camps and DDR Camp projects, I have never experienced people from the local communities being involved. As an UNV volunteer, if I get an opportunity, I would like to work on community level projects such as school, housing, hospital construction: i.e. things which are constructed for those people who are suffering and have been displaced by the war.