UN Headquarters to Host New Negotiation Training Workshop for Diplomats

 

on Protecting Civilians in Armed Conflict, 14-15 September

 

NEW YORK, 11 September (UNITAR) ‑‑ The new negotiation training workshop for delegates at United Nations Headquarters will take place in New York on 14‑15 September as the Olof Palme Memorial Fund and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) join forces once more to strengthen the skills of developing-country diplomats in the field of multilateral negotiations.

Titled “Negotiating International Peace and Security:  the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict”, the workshop is part of the ongoing capacity-building package for developing countries at the United Nations supported by the Government of Sweden and the Olof Palme Memorial Fund.  The training aims to provide 40 delegates, mostly from developing and least developed countries, with the necessary skills and analytical tools to enhance their contributions to Security Council negotiations concerning the protection of civilians in armed conflict, particularly women and children.

The participatory and practice-oriented workshop will engage seasoned negotiators and experts from within the United Nations system in discussions on negotiation experiences and best practices.  Current and past Security Council members, such as Augustine P. Mahiga, Permanent Representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations, will share their wealth of experience on the particular dynamics of Security Council negotiations.

Selected case studies on civilian protection, sexual violence, and children and armed conflict are timely and pressing, explains Ambassador Pierre Schori, Chair of the Palme Memorial Fund and former Head of Mission of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI).  “By integrating the necessary thematic and skills-oriented aspects of formulating these mandates into diplomats’ negotiation ‘tool kits’, this workshop seeks to contribute to closing the gap between decision-making at the Security Council and its implications for United Nations field missions and country-specific realities.  In this context, the empowerment of women as drivers of peace and more effective protection for women in armed conflict are among the most pressing issues.”

In her opening statement, Colleen Thouez, Head of the UNITAR New York Office, is expected to express her gratitude to the Government of Sweden for supporting the initiative.  “The Swedish support helps us to address the high demand by Member States for capacity-building in the area of negotiation skills and techniques as applied to the pressing issues of our time.  This new advanced-level course format will contextualize delegates’ proficiencies and equip them with both the skills and technical background to make valuable contributions to open debates of the Council on improving the international community’s responses to the suffering of civilians, in particular women and children, in situations of armed conflict.”

The workshop is part of the six-pronged 2009 UNITAR-Olof Palme Negotiation Training Series launched last March.  Since then, more than 100 delegates, mostly from developing and least developed countries, have been trained in specialized areas such as climate change diplomacy.

For more information, please contact:  Colleen Thouez, Head, UNITAR Office New York, tel.:  1 212 963 9683; or Pierre Schori, Chairman of the Board, Olof Palme Memorial Fund, tel.:  1 617 785 5363.

Workshop dates and venue:  14-15 September, United Nations Headquarters, New York.

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For information media • not an official record