IED training Officer (non-contracted) Post Available

 22 Sep 2025 ( MONUSCO: IED training Officer (non-contracted)  )

Post title and level: IED training Officer (non-contracted)
Organizational Unit: United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO)
Duty Station: Throughout the Mission, according to operational requirements
Reporting to: Chief of Sector
Duration: 12 months (extendible)
Deadline for applications: 20 October 2025

 

United Nations Core Values: Integrity, Professionalism, and Respect for Diversity

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: Must hold a diploma in Police or Gendarmerie. Be qualified as an EOD3 according to the NILAM, IEDD, C-IED trainer, and ERM trainer (education on the risks of mines, REG, and IED). Have in-depth knowledge in the following areas: mines, ERW, FDI, their impacts on the population, global initiatives of mine action, Criminal investigation, criminal law, criminal procedure, and intelligence. Possess basic computer knowledge: Windows, Excel, Word, and Outlook.

Work Experience: Must have a minimum of five years of professional experience, in action against the mines, in a country affected by the threat of explosive devices, in an environment of investigation and/or intelligence and/or criminal analysis, in the active application of national law, and in the active services of the national police or gendarmerie. Experience in peacekeeping operations or other international experience with the United Nations or other Organizations is required. Possessing basic computer knowledge, including proficiency in Windows, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Outlook, is an advantage.

Languages: A good command of both French and English is required for the advertised post.

 

Assessment for Mission Service: All candidates should be cleared through an Assessment for Mission Service (AMS) either by a Selection Assistance and Assessment Team (SAAT) deployed to a Member State or based on an in-mission AMS upon the arrival of the candidates from a Member State, who typically undergo an in-mission AMS. Failure to pass the in-mission assessment will result in the candidate’s repatriation. All repatriation-related expenses in this case are to be borne by the Member State.

Preference will be given to equally qualified women candidates.

Date of Issuance: 19 September 2025

Security Council Renews Mandate of Stabilization Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO)

Security Council Renews Mandate of Stabilization Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2765 (2024)

The Security Council today extended for one year the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), expressing grave concern over the ongoing offensive by the 23 March Movement (M23) in North Kivu, in violation of the ceasefire, and the unauthorized presence of external forces from a neighbouring State in the eastern part of the country.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2765 (2024) (to be issued as document S/RES/2765 (2024)), the Council — acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations — decided that the new mandate expires on 20 December 2025.  The mandate includes, on an exceptional basis and without precedent to peacekeeping’s basic principles, its Force Intervention Brigade.

The draft further decided that MONUSCO’s authorized troop ceiling will comprise 11,500 military personnel, 600 military observers and staff officers, 443 police personnel and 1,270 personnel of formed police units.

The text also decided to retain the Mission’s key strategic priorities — protecting civilians, supporting the stabilization and strengthening of State institutions and key governance and security reforms. In this regard, it authorized MONUSCO to use “all means at its disposal … to promptly and effectively prevent armed groups’ attacks against civilians”.

By its other terms, the text requested the Secretary-General — in his quarterly reports on MONUSCO — to provide updates on progress towards the implementation of its gradual, responsible and sustainable withdrawal to evaluate the Mission’s performance, including its Force Intervention Brigade, and provide operational assessments and recommendations.

Furthermore, the text requested a tailored approach to MONUSCO’s gradual, responsible and sustainable withdrawal, considering evolving conflict dynamics and protection risks in hotspot areas across North Kivu and Ituri Provinces.  It requested that this strategy be shared with the Council by 31 March 2025.

“Today’s adoption can be a moment that will significantly change the trajectory of the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo towards the peaceful resolution of the conflict,” said the representative of Sierra Leone, a co-penholder of the draft.  He supported Kinshasa’s efforts to protect civilians and stabilize and strengthen State institutions.  However, he cautioned that M23’s territorial expansion remains deeply concerning, demanding that it end its offensive and cease its expansion in the east of the country without delay.

France’s delegate, noting that the text reaffirms that protection of civilians will be a priority task for MONUSCO, said the Mission will also continue its disengagement.  Condemning all obstacles to the implementation of its mandate — including the territorial expansion of M23 — he reaffirmed support for the Luanda process and urged all stakeholders to continue negotiations.

After the vote, Mozambique’s delegate, speaking also for Algeria, Guyana and Sierra Leone, stressed that the resolution arrives “at a pivotal moment” for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region.  Highlighting MONUSCO’s efforts to support Kinshasa in addressing the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the eastern part of the country, he underscored that effective implementation of its mandate remains crucial to the stability of the country and the protection of civilians.  Effective collaboration with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is vital, particularly in planning the next steps for the Mission’s drawdown and consolidating the drawdown in South Kivu.

At the national level, he underlined the critical importance of revitalizing the Nairobi process in sustainably addressing the issue of local armed groups.  Simultaneously, the establishment of a robust State presence in the eastern regions is vital in ensuring a well-equipped State apparatus capable of administering the territory and countering all threats against civilians.  He also highlighted the critical contributions of the African Union in addressing the protracted conflict in the eastern part of the country as well as Angola’s leadership and mediation efforts.  While national and regional efforts are vital, he called on the Security Council to continue playing a constructive role in achieving a peaceful conflict settlement.

China’s delegate, noting that the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is at a critical juncture, commended Angola’s efforts to promote the Luanda process.  He further voiced support for Kinshasa in safeguarding its national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, adding that the UN should fully respect the views and demands of its Government and ensure that the withdrawal of MONUSCO does not create a security vacuum.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s delegate expressed disappointment that the Luanda process Heads of State summit was postponed and urged all parties to engage with the process in good faith.  Also expressing concern about the surge in violence since 15 December, including the presence of Rwanda Defence Forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he called on parties to the conflict to refrain from obstructing the Mission's operations.

“While we fully support the extension of MONUSCO’s mandate”, the representative of the United States said, “we remain dismayed that some members of the Council resisted the inclusion of language factually describing Rwanda’s role in [the eastern part of the country],” especially in the face of “extensive evidence” of Rwanda’s deployment of troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its influence over M23 operations.  She also expressed disappointment that Rwanda’s President declined to attend the tripartite summit, “forfeiting a significant opportunity to advance peace efforts”.  Highlighting the ceasefire agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda and the establishment of the verification mechanism to monitor the ceasefire, she added:  “We must not lose sight of how far we have come.”

 

Source: https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15949.doc.htm

First-Ever all-female training course for UNPOL candidates launch

FIRST-EVER ALL-FEMALE TRAINING COURSE FOR UNPOL CANDIDATES LAUNCH

In 2009, the United Nations launched a global effort to increase the representation of female police to comprise 20 percent of United Nations police in peace operations by 2014. To reach this target goal, the Police Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations developed the All-Female Selection Assistance and Assessment Team (SAAT) Training Project, designed to prepare and evaluate female officers for mandatory United Nations examinations for duty in the field. Successful female officers will then be deployed to peacekeeping missions, depending on their language capacity.

Support for this project was provided by the Governments of the United States of America and Canada, and it involved efforts by the United Nations Secretariat (the Police Division, the DPKO-DFS Executive Office, and the OHRM Language and Communication Programme) along with United Nations field staff (MONUSCO, UNOCI, UNAMID, MINUSMA, MINUSTAH) and the United Nations Development Programme.

The first preparatory training courses occurred last month in Rwanda and Burkina-Faso, with SAAT examinations yielding impressive results. Over 150 Rwandan female police officers participated in the programme and were divided into four groups based upon their language skills, so that three groups studied in French and one in English. Additionally, 58 female officers in Burkina-Faso attended the courses and were evaluated.

It is important to note that all of the officers had been screened by the Police Division beforehand, and were recognized as candidates with the necessary skill sets for serving in peacekeeping operations.

The SAAT examination results showed that the preparatory courses strengthened the officers’ proficiencies so that roughly twice as many female officer candidates passed than usual.

Preparations are currently underway for a SAAT training in Cameroon, which will take place later this month.

Pakistan Debates Role of Drones for Peacekeeping at United Nations

PAKISTAN DEBATES ROLE OF DRONES FOR PEACEKEEPING AT UNITED NATIONS

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Masood Khan, took part in a Security Council meeting this week that debated the role of drones in U.N. peacekeeping operations worldwide. His comments came just hours before a U.S. drone strike killed 13 suspected militants in North Waziristan late Wednesday and Thursday morning, the first such strike orchestrated by the CIA-led program since December of 2013. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately condemned the strike, saying that such actions are a violation of the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, a position the government of Pakistan has always held.

The Security Council debate, organized by interim Council President Vitaly I. Churkin of the Russian Federation, was comprised of nearly 50 speakers from 40 countries, including the Russian Federation, China, Japan, Pakistan, the European Union and the U.S. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon provided the keynote address. He noted that peacekeeping operations undertaken by the United Nations must be in full compliance with humanitarian law and international human rights and he recognized the asymmetric and unconventional threats that U.N. peacekeepers increasingly face.

Drones in surveillance roles have already been used on a trial basis by United Nations peacekeepers. In December of 2013, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) employed unarmed surveillance drones to keep track of militant activity in the forested areas near the borders of Rwanda and Uganda. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was deployed by an Intervention Brigade of infantry, reconnaissance units and artillery specifically organized to protect civilians from Congolese militants operating in the region. The ongoing mission has been successful in protecting civilian life, in large part due to the intelligence provided by the surveillance drone.

During the debate, Sylvie Lucas, president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and Ambassador to Luxumbourg, praised the surveillance role of UAVs in the Congo, saying that the U.N. vehicle was able to obtain information essential for safeguarding civilians. Asoke Kumar Mukerjii of India, however, struck a more cautious tone, saying that the entire approach of MONUSCO was “interventionist” and counter to the principles of impartiality, consent and non-use of force in the U.N. Charter. Such approaches, he argued, expose peacekeepers to greater dangers in internal armed conflicts.

The position of the U.S. was presented by the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N, Jeffrey DeLaurentis. He argued that MONUSCO proved the benefit of force in some circumstances for peacekeeping operations and that the Council should review use-of-force rules since force is almost never used by U.N. peacekeepers when civilians come under attack. The decision to deploy UAVs and other new technologies should be made by the missions themselves and not by the Security Council.

Regarding the role of drones for peacekeeping operations, Ambassador Khan of Pakistan noted the benefit UAVs had in protecting civilians and increasing the security and safety of U.N. peacekeepers under MONUSCO. During the debate, he called for greater cooperation between the Security Council, troop-contributing countries and the Secretariat. Pakistan is one of the largest troop contributors to the United Nations, having provided more than 150,000 personnel in 41 peacekeeping operations since 1960. Pakistan’s ambassador added that the use of drone technology by United Nations peacekeepers should be “selective and sensitive to the concerns of the host country and neighboring states.”

UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone ends its work

UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN SIERRA LEONE ENDS ITS WORK

Today marks the official end of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone, the third and final phase of an engagement by the world body that started 15 years ago and at one stage saw the single largest peacekeeping force in its history deployed. 

More than 17 000 peacekeepers served under the United Nations flag alongside Sierra Leoneans to achieve a hard-won peace during an 11 years long conflict to disarm rebels and return the West African country to stability.

“The general atmosphere of peace now prevailing is the culmination of more than 15 years of successive Security Council mandated peace operations in the country,” Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen said when he delivered his final briefing to the Security Council on the work of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) which he heads.

He pointed out that while the country has gained a solid footing on the path to recovery it will still require sustained international support to address the lingering challenges from the “brutal civil war” of the nineties.

Though the country is continuing on the right path, it still faces a number of challenges linked to the root causes of its decade-long civil war that require sustained attention and support, he said, emphasising the work ahead for Sierra Leone in addressing pervasive poverty and unemployment, especially among the youth, as well as endemic corruption, in addition to upholding the rule of law and widening the political space.

UNIPSIL would now transfer its responsibilities to the UN Country Team, which consists of 19 agencies, funds and programmes based on the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, known as UNDAF, and in support of the Government’s “Agenda for Prosperity,” a social and economic development strategy for 2013-2018.

The United Nations helped the Sierra Leonean government combat illicit diamond mining that fuelled the conflict and assisted with establishing control over the affected areas. With the UN's help, Sierra Leone's citizens voted in successive free and fair elections for the first time in their history.

United Nations peacekeepers disarmed more than 75 000 ex-fighters, including hundreds of child soldiers, and destroyed more than 42 000 weapons and 1.2 million rounds of ammunition. The United Nations assisted more than half a million Sierra Leonean refugees and internally displaced persons to return home and supported training for thousands of local police.

The world body’s peacekeeping operations have advanced a long way from the Sierra Leone model with an offensive mandate given to the MONUSCO Force Intervention Brigade in the DRC. The brigade, with includes South African air and ground elements, has played a major role in driving the M23 rebel group back into Uganda. It has just had its mandate extended for another year and will be operational until March 31 next year.

The success of the FIB will, if indications from the United Nations are accurate, be an influence on the still to be established United Nations peacekeeping mission for the Central African Republic.

Rebels attack town in eastern DR Congo, UN reports

(Peacekeepers serving with the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) on patrol. UN Photo/Sylvain Liechti)

REBELS ATTACK TOWN IN EASTERN DR CONGO, UNITED NATIONS REPORTS

14 January 2014 – The United Nations today reported a new rebel attack in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the region continues to suffer from deadly violence even after the defeat of a major dissident group, the M23, over a month ago.

In the latest violence, Mayi Mayi Sheka fighters attacked Pinga, in North Kivu province, but left after a 30-minute gun fight with the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC (MONUSCO) reported.

Around 1,000 civilians sought refuge during the confrontation near the UN Mission’s base in Pinga, but only 90 remained there today, the others having returned home.

Briefing the Security Council yesterday by video link from Kinshasa, the DRC capital, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Mary Robinson, warned that the positive atmosphere that prevailed last month following the defeat of the M23 rebel group has “vanished” and the region is going through a period of renewed turbulence.

This has been marked by deadly attacks in eastern DRC by another rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the ongoing crisis in Central African Republic (CAR) and the eruption of fighting in South Sudan.

The Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the Region, signed by 11 nations last February, remains “the best chance” to achieve sustainable peace, security, cooperation and development in the Great Lakes Region, she said.

In the same briefing Mr. Ban’s Special Representative for DRC Martin Kobler called the Framework a major milestone, along with the creation of an intervention brigade within MONUSCO and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, which put all armed groups on notice that “we have the will and the means to take robust action at any time.

“In the coming weeks, we will finalize the review of our military deployment across eastern Congo. We will then have a more flexible force. We need it to be more agile, ready to deploy when it is needed and where civilians are threatened, to take on the threat,” he added, also noting that peace in eastern DRC can only be durable if its root causes are addressed.

“Restitution of State authority alone is not enough. Only regional cooperation and good governance will provide the peace dividend the population is expecting.”

Today he strongly condemned the latest attack and sent his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and the Congolese people, stressing that MONUSCO will continue to work to consolidate the recent military gains.

The DRC has been torn apart by civil wars and factional fighting since it became independent from Belgium in 1960, but with the support of a series of UN missions a measure of stability has been restored to much of the vast country over the past decade.

But fighting between the Government and a variety of rebel and sectarian groups has continued to devastate the eastern regions, particularly North and South Kivu provinces.

In March, the Security Council authorized the deployment of an intervention brigade within MONUSCO, based in North Kivu province with a total of 3,069 peacekeepers, to carry out targeted offensive operations, with or without FARDC, against armed groups threatening peace in eastern DRC.

Peacekeepers Reinforcing In South Sudan Amid Continued Fighting

PEACEKEEPERS REINFORCING IN SOUTH SUDAN AMID CONTINUED FIGHTING

(Newsroom America) - The security situation in South Sudan remains "fluid", the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country said, confirming that it is sending reinforcements to areas affected by the current fighting between pro- and anti-Government troops, particularly Bor, Malakal, Bentiu and Juba.

"This is critical to enable the Mission to deliver on its mandate to protect civilians," UNMISS said.

It specified that thousands of additional police, military, logistics support and selected civilian staff are being relocated to the affected areas, per the Security Council's authorization.

Three weeks of violence in the world's newest country have claimed thousands of lives and forced about 200,000 people from their homes, many seeking refuge inside UN bases.

UNMISS said that two stand-by police components known as Formed Police Units have been deployed to strengthen security and order for civilians on UN compounds. A medical team from the UN Mission in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) arrived yesterday in Juba to bolster support at the UN Juba bases. Logistical support for air operations is being provided by the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO.

More aircraft are arriving this week to assist with transport of essential supplies to troops and civilians, the Mission confirmed. They will be followed by additional police from Nepal, and later also troop reinforcements.

The UN's humanitarian wing has significantly reinforced its ability in Juba and other key areas of the country, such as the Lakes State county of Awerial where up to 76,000 people have gathered, in order to meet the needs of civilians.

According to the Mission, close to $100 million have been raised in the past 72 hours to bring in additional supplies and staff to respond to the evolving situation.

Humanitarian partners in the country had issued a $166 million plan to assist some 628,000 people over the next three months. It includes provision of protection, water, food, shelter and healthcare. It also aims to help those that have left Sudan and sought refuge in South Sudan's Unity and Upper Nile states. UN officials have repeatedly called for a cessation of violence and a political solution to the conflict, including accountability for grave human rights violations. Representatives of President Salve Kiir and the feuding former deputy president Riek Machar are meeting in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, in talks mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). In a New Year's message to the people of South Sudan, UNMISS chief Hilde Johnson voiced support for the talks and summarized the agenda: an immediate cessation of hostilities, the release of all political detainees, political dialogue and humanitarian access.