Karin Limdal
Cooperation for more effective peace operations
https://vimeo.com/164696839 In the fictitious nation of Bogaland, Nato leads a peacekeeping operation under chapter VII of the UN Charter. The multinational force BFOR is deployed to the country to assure the armistice and create a more secure environment for the citizens and conditions for a peace agreement.Such was the scenario when about 1 200 people from 27 countries recently participated in the Combined Joint Staff Exercise (CJSE) in Enköping, Sweden. It is the Swedish Defence University together with the Swedish Armed Forces that arrange the exercise which aims to train officers in how to work in a multinational staff in order to lead an international and multifunctional peace operation. FBA contributes with expert personnel to coordinate civilian actors that the military command needs to cooperate with in the scenario. In this exercise the military force has been deployed for a little more than a month and the security situation doesn’t allow for many organizations to be present. Mainly humanitarian actors are in the country.
Cooperation in peace operations is one of the FBA’s focus areas and the reason that the agency for many years has participated in the planning of and contributed civilian experts to the annual CJSE.
In the clip above, John Rosén, civil-military coordinator at the Swedish Armed Forces, describes the aim of the CJSE and the necessity for military personnel to cooperate with civilian organizations and institutions, present in conflict areas.
Susanne Ringgaard Pedersen, also seen in the film, participates in the CJSE on behalf of the FBA as responsible for the human rights dimension. She has long experience from working with these issues in peace operations and international organizations.