Policy and guidance. United Nations Peacekeeping

Resources

Policy and guidance

UN Peacekeeping has produced a number of policy and guidance documents since its creation in 1948. Here you will find the most recent key papers for you to download.

2013

Handbook for Judicial Affairs Officers in UN Peacekeeping Operations , intended to serve as a “textbook” for UN judicial affairs officers working in post-conflict environments and provide reference guide for use prior to, and during, their deployment in the field.
Prison Incident Management Handbook , intended to provide guidance to UN corrections officers and other partners that assist national prison authorities in addressing the many prison security challenges.

2012

Planning Toolkit , intended to help field practitioners in conducting assessments and planning of DPKO-led operations. It provides guidance, templates, checklists and lists of examples of good practices to help develop a wide variety of plans — ranging from a UN-wide Integrated Strategic Framework to the mission results-based budgeting and planning.
DPKO/DFS Civil Affairs Handbook, the first edition of the document providing detailed guidance for Civil Affairs Officers on how to perform their tasks; can be a useful orientation for anyone interested in finding out more about Civil Affairs work in UN peacekeeping.

2011

The New Horizon Initiative: Progress Report No. 2 , the second informal report highlighting ongoing efforts to improve the effectiveness of UN Peacekeeping.
Defence Sector Reform (DSR) Policy , providing guidance to United Nations staff engaged in supporting national defence sector reform efforts. The DSR policy has been developed within the overarching framework of the United Nations security sector reform framework intended to support States and societies in developing effective, inclusive and accountable security institutions.
Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration: report of the Secretary-General , introducing revised policy and guidance related to the United Nations approach to the reintegration of ex-combatants and associated groups, and noting large gaps in their implementation [A/65/741] of 21 March 2011.

2009 - 2010

A New Partnership Agenda: Charting a New Horizon for UN Peacekeeping
The New Horizon Initiative: Progress Report No. 1 - the first informal progress report.
These internal documents, prepared as part of the “New Horizon” process attempt to assess the major policy and strategy dilemmas facing UN Peacekeeping today and over the coming years; and to reinvigorate the ongoing dialogue with Member States and other stakeholders on possible solutions to better calibrate UN Peacekeeping to meet current and future requirements. Key elements of the original 2009 paper were taken up by the Secretary-General in his Report to the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations [A/64/573]

2008

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines (“Capstone doctrine”)
This document sets out the guiding principles and core objectives of UN Peacekeeping operations, as well the main factors contributing to their success in the field. It also provides a basis for the development of training materials for military, police and civilian personnel preparing to serve in the field. The document draws on the contemporary peacekeeping practices; seminal documents such as "An Agenda for Peace" [A/47/277 - S/24111] , "Supplement to an Agenda for Peace" [A/50/60 - S/1995/1] and the “Brahimi report" [A/55/305 – S/2000/809] ; as well as internal lessons learned materials, external research and academic commentary.

2003

Handbook on United Nations Multidimensional Peacekeeping Operations The Handbook is intended to serve as an introduction to the varied aspects of multidimensional peacekeeping operations and to provide readers with a general overview of the responsibilities of each component of the operation. The primary audience of the Handbook is field personnel who are new to the UN or who are being deployed to a multidimensional peacekeeping operation for the first time.