Mentoring & Advising

Mentoring is an approach that is frequently integrated into efforts to support and strengthen capacities in civilian crisis management, especially in the areas of rule of law, security sector reform and police.

The aim of the course is to enhance the skills of mentors and advisers when working in UN, EU and OSCE peace operations. The course focuses on how to build a respectful working relationship with partners by developing and improving intercultural competence and applying strategies to encourage participation of local partners and local ownership. Participants learn about the process and tasks in mentoring, as well as the challenges involved and how to address them.

The course language is English.

By the end of this course participants will:

• Understand mentoring and advising in the context of peace operation and the mission environment;
• Be able to apply the principles of monitoring, mentoring, and advising;
• Be able to apply problem-solving strategies;
• Communicate effectively in a culturally-sensitive manner and know how to build trust;
• Be able to plan and report on monitoring, mentoring and advising activities.

The course is geared towards civilian, police and military experts who are currently working as mentors or advisers in peace operations of the UN, EU and OSCE or civilian crisis management organisations, or those who wish to be deployed in such activities in the future.

• Development of mentoring in peace operations;
• Monitoring, mentoring, advising in context of EU and UN peace operations;
• Phases of the mentoring process;
• Communication techniques for mentoring & working with interpreters;
• Trust-building;
• Introduction to negotiation skills;
• Documentation and evaluation;
• Sharing experience with mentors.

Participation in this course is not subject to any specific requirements.

• Venue: This training takes place at the Federal Police Academy in Lübeck.
• Course fee:
  • Members of the ZIF Expert Pool: €150/week, plus meals. Insurance or travel expenses are not included in the course fee and will not be reimbursed.
  • External participants (not German Federal Armed Forces): approx. €530/week, plus meals.

ZIF trainings:

ZIF trainings are practice-oriented and reflect the operational reality of peace operations and (post-)conflict areas through exercises, role plays and scenario-based courses. Moreover, our trainings focus on the main areas of competence outlined in the ZIF Concept "Civilian Expert". Additionally, we base our courses on contemporary concepts of adult education and peer learning. We try to create a joint learning space where participants and the training team can exchange freely and critically, and which provides room for self-reflection. Another important goal of our courses is to encourage a change of perspective. One way of achieving this is by mainstreaming the comprehensive approach (civilian, police, military), which is made possible through our cooperation within the German Training Partner Platform.