Bottlenecks to Deployment?

NUPI has conducted a study of civilians and police that received training through the Training for Peace in Africa programme (TfP).

In the report the authors differentiate between individual and systemic bottlenecks. Evidence from the questionnaires leads them to conclude that individual bottlenecks, referring to the respondent's unwillingness or inability to apply, make up for roughly half of the non-deployments documented in the survey. Systemic bottlenecks are, however, also a significant obstacle to deployment. They are also easier to do something about in terms of policy.

The nature and structure of the DPKO/DFS's recruitment system is the most crucial structural factor. 27 % of those who had unsuccessfully applied for a position blamed the informal and patrimonial nature of the UN recruitment.

Responses to that effect stated that "to get deployed takes personal contacts" or "I think [that the application was unsuccessful] because I did not know someone personally to push my case" or "only if there is somebody to back you up, for people like us who follow the right channel of the recruitment process, hardly get the job." Two of the respondents claimed separately that a common saying in the UN is that "it is more important who you know than what you know".

Both deployed and non-deployed respondents stressed the importance of knowing someone in the system to push a person's application personally.

The report reflects on these perspectives and tries to give recommendations on how to strengthen the link between training and recruitment.

Bottlenecks to Deployment? The Challenge of Deploying Trained Civilian Personnel to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations