Core Course Peace Operations

ZIF has developed a core course curriculum covering a range of subjects applicable to any field environment, since course participants usually do not know when and where they will be deployed in the future. The course incorporates the training standards and guidelines for generic, non-mission-specific training of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), United Nations (UN), and the European Union (EU) and therefore gives participants a solid foundation for their future mission work.

Core courses provide participants with the general knowledge and soft skills they will need regardless of what their future mission position will be. Soft skills include inter-cultural communication, negotiation and mediation techniques, working with interpreters, stress management, and gender awareness. The course also provides participants with insights into the structure and specific functional units in peace operations, their mandates and lessons learned from previous mission experiences. Moreover, the course contributes to the creation of a sense of common identity among future mission members who have different professional, organizational and cultural backgrounds, and encourages cooperation during future field assignments.

All modules seek to enhance desirable personal attitudes, stress the importance of active involvement of the host society and promote a reflective and critical approach with regard to the complex issues of civilian crisis prevention and management when implementing concrete projects in the field, i.e. skills that are practised in direct interaction with beneficiaries.

The ZIF Training unit puts particular emphasis on practical security training. It seeks – in close collaboration with National Police Academies and the German Armed Forces - to sensitise participants to security awareness and risk prevention. Part of the core course training is conducted at the UN Training Center of the German Armed Forces in Hammelburg, where participants are trained in mine awareness, and behaviour in complex risk situations, field orientation and communication.

For German participants, the Core Course Peace Operations provides the opportunity to enter the ZIF expert pool,  following a successful completion of the course and a positive assessment by the ZIF Training and Human Resource units.

Training Modules:

• Development of International Peace Operations
• Structure and Mandates of UN, OSCE, and EU Missions
• Analysis of Past and Ongoing Conflicts
• International Law, Human Rights, and Rule of Law
• Code of Conduct, Mission Readiness and Personal Motivation
• Inter-Cultural Communication
• Negotiation and Mediation
• Working with National Staff
• Gender Aspects in Conflict Situations
• Different Actors in the Field / Cooperation with Nongovernmental Organisations, Civilian Police other International Organisations
• Civil-Military Cooperation
• Personal Security, Mine Awareness and Behaviour in Complex Risk Situations
• Orientation in the Field / Use of Maps and GPS / Radio Communication Basics
• Road Safety and Driving in Hazardous Environment / Use of 4x4 Vehicles
• Basic First Aid and Personal Hygiene in the Field
• Stress Management
• Information on National Recruitment and Secondment Procedures (for German Nationals)

Sample Program Core Course Peace Operations

For more information on the Core Course Peace Operations, including training dates, course fees and application process, please consult the ZIF Training Course Overview.