1.4.7. Speaking: Case Studies

A. Role-play

Class is divided in pairs.

In pairs choose the role of a Liaison Officer or an NGO representative. Use the information to prepare a dialogue.

You are a Liaison Officer preparing to escort a group of refugees. Talk to the NGO representative to find out details.

Number of people

Number of trucks available

Destination

Estimated time of the journey

Other factors

You are an NGO representative. You need an escort from the peacekeeping forces for a group of refugees.

Number of people: 105

Number of trucks available: 4

Destination: Refugee camp by the Western border

Estimated time of the journey: 2 days

Other factors: danger of mines

B. Case studies

You are going to read some information about UN-CIMIC Community support and then to discuss case studies of a successful and unsuccessful Community support initiatives.

Step 1: Read the information about UN-CIMIC Community support

UN-CIMIC Community support

Community support refers to UN-CIMIC activities that help local communities to improve and normalize their lives. Community support projects are often related to physical infrastructure repair/rehabilitation projects that could be requested by any civilian organization or entity through appropriate mission coordination structures. This activity could be implemented as Quick Impact Project (QIP) which is a small-scale project of benefit to the local population. Such QIPs are funded through the mission budget and are used by UN peacekeeping operations to establish and build confidence in the mission. Community support initiatives include wide variety of projects, e.g. building of infrastructure projects, rehabilitation of buildings, revival of economic activities; vocational training; reconstruction or maintenance of roads and bridges; reconstruction of water and sanitation services and rehabilitation of electricity supply. Socio-cultural activities and support for gender and environmental initiatives are also valuable community support projects.

Step 2: Read Case study 1 and state the reason the QIP was successful.

Case study 1: Conflict resolution

During the mission in Chad, MINURCAD Civil Affairs Officers were active in the resolution of disputes between farmers and herders over insufficient and contested natural resources. Using an approach based on consultations with local authorities, Civil Affairs Officers facilitated a successful dialogue process between the farmers and herders in a village in Chad where the former community had fled their village and become internally displaced persons. The agreement was cemented to build a mill in the village.

Step 3: Class is divided in two groups: A and B.

Group A: Read Case study 2. Group B: Read Case study 3. Discuss within the groups: What was wrong? Report your case to the other group.

Case study 2: Military contingent individually supports an orphanage in Haiti

A Battalion commander received one day a request for assistance from an Orphanage in Haiti. (For information, the “Chambre de L’Enfance Nécessiteusse Haitienne” indicated that it has received during a year requests for assistance from nearly 200 orphanages from around the country for more than 200,000 children). Very concern by the abandoned children and interested in doing something related to Community support, the commander decided to accept helping this orphanage by raising funds to buy equipment and support them. Project to fund an orphanage had been performed in close coordination with only local individuals. What was wrong?

Case study 3: Military Contingent provided support to a village in a remote area by digging a well just in the centre of the village. This project has been undertaken as a QIP in full coordination with locals. The sustainable aim was to help them developing their village, to avoid having women and their daughters walking for hours to seek water and to allow young girls to attend school. Unfortunately, ladies from the village kept on going to the very remote well which was several hours walking from the village. What was wrong with this project?

Source: United Nations Civil-Military Coordination (UN-CIMIC) Specialized Training Materials, 1st ed. (2014), pp. 115-121. Available online: STM UN CIMIC – Specialised Training Materials (STM) – Research Guides at United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library

C. Expressing opinion

1. You have learnt some information about CIMIC. Do you agree or disagree with the following quote from General Joachim Spiering, Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe, 9 September 1998: “In former times, commanders never thought about civil-military cooperation. It was the responsibility of old colonels who were unfit for operations. Today, all that has changed. CIMIC is a commander’s responsibility”. What is your comment of the last sentence of the quotation?

2. Some refer to CIMIC as a “Force Multiplier”. What does this mean to you?

Please record your voice answer to the questions, download the file and send it to your teacher.