Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Terms of Reference: UN Integrated Missions Project

1. Background: revisiting the integration agenda 

There is general agreement on the need for a coherent and well-coordinated structure in the field to ensure that peace operations lay the foundations for sustainable peace.  How best to achieve better coherence is, however, contested.

Mission mandates are increasingly often multi-dimensional, and multi-pronged approaches are called for ever more frequently. It is increasingly accepted that integrated missions are an efficient means of implementing such mandates and meeting such calls. Integrated missions are intended to improve the coherence of objectives, optimise impact and resource use, maximise output, reduce duplication and foster greater accountability. These factors are given added importance by the unprecedented growth in recent years in the complexity, number and objectives of UN peace operations, which is challenging the ability of the UN system and its Member States to operate efficiently. 

The project will focus on the critical issues of the integrated approach, and on strengthening the capacity of the UN and its Member States to make optimal use of  limited resources to build lasting peace in countries affected by war.

2. Purpose: 

The project has three principal aims:

  1. to consider what issues are critical in moving the debate and implementation forward;
  2. to take stock of the progress made on the critical issues so far; and
  3. to formulate recommendations to the UN and its Member States on practical steps that need to be taken to address the critical issues.

3. Critical issues

The project will look at:

  1. the relationship between the desired impacts of multidimensional mandates and integrated missions;
  2. how to implement integrated missions, including:
    1. how to create real incentives for actors to work together;
    2. how to assess and evaluate integration and impact; and
    3. what overall structure a “form follows function” approach implies, i.e. around/with what core structures the various elements and actors should be integrated,
  3. how integrated missions can contribute to an efficient transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding;
  4. how integrated missions can ensure a more demographically and gender sensitive approach to peacekeeping and peacebuilding;
  5. how integrated missions can facilitate:
    1. effective disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants; and
    2. security sector reform (including the armed forces, police and judiciary),
  1. how the independence and delivery of humanitarian assistance can be safeguarded within the framework of integrated missions;
  2. how integrated missions are affected by the lack of strategic cooperation at policy level, and how existing constraints can be overcome, particularly as regard financing; and
  3. the training implications of the integrated mission concept.

4. Methodology

In-depth background papers will be commissioned. A series of regional workshops on the issues listed above will be held at carefully selected locations. The background papers will be circulated prior to the workshops to ensure a common basis for the discussions and consistency in the conclusions reached.

The project will work with relevant research establishments, and draw on practical experience, evaluations/assessments (lessons learned and best practices) and thematic research from the field.

The project will be coordinated with complementary initiatives such as the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations doctrine development project and the work of the Secretary General’s Policy Committee, the UN Development Group and OCHA to enhance their integrated planning capacities, to ensure that on-the-ground efforts are integrated and mutually supportive.

Account will also be taken of the report of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence, the Secretary-General’s Note of Guidance on Integrated Missions, documentation from the Integrated Mission Planning Process and the Humanitarian Reform Process, and the work of the UN Chief Executive Board and other relevant partners such as the International Council of Voluntary Agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross .

In addition, the project will build on ongoing reforms related to this area, especially the work of the Panel on System-wide coherence, the work of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Support Office,

5. Results

  • The background papers and records of the seminar proceedings will be edited and published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of the project.
  • A special summary document containing recommendations on the planning and implementation of integrated missions will be prepared for the UN and its Member States.
  • A running theme throughout the project will be to establish guidelines/an inventory of issues relevant to integrated missions.