General Description

Civilian Peace-keeping[1]and Peace-building[2] are important for transforming conflicts to a less violent stage (“conflict transformation”). They have to be embedded in a comprehensive approach, which tries to link conflict transformation to humanitarian aid and development co-operation Peace-building must be related to the needs of the population in the conflict area, supporting sustainable socio-economic and ecological development as well as promoting culture, education and media. Peace-building needs to be compatible with civil society and other actors in the field; non‑violent and distinct from enforcement actions; flexible and practical; and capable of counteracting violent escalations at an early point.

Such peace-building activities are implemented by international and local experts in a conflict environment that is shaped by stark prejudices and enemy images, proneness to violence, inadequate health care and supply systems, refugee problems and a lack of sufficient material infrastructure. These severe conditions are challenging the personal as well as the social abilities of peace-builders. Usually, they perform far away from their "normal life" with family and friends, and they have to co-operate closely with colleagues coming from all over the world with different cultural backgrounds and problem-solving approaches, and with the needy population on site.

Training constitutes a fundamental aspect in order to improve the qualifications, size, and rapid deployment capability of a pool of civilian personnel for international missions. The creation of a trained reserve is essential in order to provide personnel for Peace-keeping operations of the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union (EU) and other international organizations, but also for field missions of international and national non-governmental organizations, or for governments which send their staff to crisis areas.

The International Civilian Peace-keeping and Peace-building Training Program (IPT) is geared towards people already working in or wanting to work with international organizations as well as at those wishing to work or already working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Training these people together has a number of advantages, e.g.:

[1]“The standard definition of peace-keeping refers to a United Nations presence in the field (normally involving civilian and military personnel) that, with the consent of the conflicting parties, implements or monitors arrangements relating to the control of conflicts and their resolution, or ensures the safe delivery of humanitarian relief. It is a technique initiated by the United Nations as a means for maintaining international peace and security” (http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/field/pkeep.htm). Civilian peace-keeping refers to the civilian component in a peace-keeping mission. Intergovernmental organizations other than the UN which provide civilian peace-keeping and peace-building personnel are the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union (EU).

[2] The term “peace-building” came into widespread use after 1992 when Boutros Boutros-Ghali, then United Nations Secretary-General, announced his Agenda for Peace (Boutros-Ghali, 1992). Peace-building activities are for instance: mediation and confidence-building among the conflict parties, humanitarian assistance (including food aid, water and sanitation, health care), reintegration (including the assistance to displaced persons, refugees, minorities and vulnerable groups), rehabilitation and reconstruction, stabilization of economic structures (including the establishment of economic links), monitoring and improving the human rights situation, empowerment for political participation (including election monitoring and assistance), interim administration for short term stability improvement, information and the establishment of educational structures, programs designed to eliminate prejudices and enemy images, and campaigns informing and educating people about the peace-building activities at hand.

With IPT we are committed to providing quality service to our participants by adhering to the following principles:

1) Solidly preparing people who want to work in crisis areas by providing general and function specific preparation in Core and Specialization Courses.

2) Ensuring the international and multidimensional character of IPT in terms of participants’ culture, professional and academic background, age, religion, ethnicity, nationality, sex etc.

3) Simulating a positive fieldwork environment by participants’ learning and living together peacefully with colleagues from most diverse backgrounds and facilitating their learning from each other outside the classroom as well as inside.

4) Allowing for training people for and from many different organizations, i.e. intergovernmental, non-governmental, governmental or from the private sector.

5) Making sure that our trainers are sound professionals, with many years of practical experience in the field, who have an academic background as well as the necessary didactic skills; giving participants the opportunity to talk with the trainers in an informal setting and to keep in touch with them.

6) Providing a mix of training methodologies, where emphasis is put on a participatory learning approach, i.e. lectures, discussions, role plays, group work etc.

7) Facilitating participants’ staying in touch and having the opportunity to get to know other alumni through our alumni network in order to exchange experiences and give each other information on jobs etc.

8) Seeing to it that we provide our alumni with information on job announcements from intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national governments.

9) Keeping up relations and interchange with recruiting organizations searching for people to work in field missions, e.g. UN Volunteers, who give special consideration to IPT Alumni when applying for a job.

10) Guaranteeing the personal commitment of the staff and it’s strive for providing an optimal learning and living environment during participants’ stay at Peace Center Stadtschlaining.

The IPT Program uses a variety of didactic techniques including lectures, simulations, discussions, small group works, role-plays, case studies, interactive simulations, videos etc. It is highly participatory and is designed so as to maximise mutual learning across the range of participating disciplines. Participants practise peace-building skills and gain experimental knowledge of various concepts. Role-plays and simulation exercises aim at improving social and interactive competencies and thus promote intercultural understanding.

Reference books and a reader relevant to the Core Course and the Specialization Course in question are specifically prepared for the courses and are made available to the participants.

In order to guarantee a participatory learning approach, the number of participants in a course is approx. 25.

The trainers, coming from all over the world, are experts in their fields and have a solid academic background as well as extensive field experience. They use a participatory as well as a case study approach and will especially focus on recent developments related to activities of governmental and non-governmental organisations in the field. They bring in their practical experiences and also let participants bring in their own expertise in order to interactively approach the respective topic.