Last month, a few professionals interacted with senior military officials in a UN peacekeeping Training of Trainers (ToT) at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT). I was fortunate to be a participant.
Some 35 kilometres away from Dhaka, passing across a narrow subway of bushes and woodlands, we reached Rajendrapur cantonment, nestled inside a thick deciduous forest, locally referred to as Shalban.
We got to experience the multifaceted Capacity Building Trainings (CBT), starting sharp at 8am and ending at 5pm, comprising a total of 80 classes during the short tenure. UN Peacekeepers from the Bangladesh Military, Navy, and Air Forces, along with the officials from partner organisations -- UNDP, UNICEF, and ICRC, trained the participants on the protection of civilians, preparing the trainees for the realtime operations in the missions.
Save for a few ministerial delegates and civilian professionals, most of the Armed Forces officers home and abroad attending the residential course were supposed to join their deployments in UN peacekeeping missions in central, west, and north Africa.
Over the period of nearly half a month, we learned how to respond to the multidimensional crises on the protection of civilians, especially for the children and the women in the middle of belligerences and hostilities of de facto states.
The course, among others, included a strategic-level overview of UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), establishment, functions, and fundamental principles of UNPKO. In addition, it focused upon the challenges to implement the Security Council mandate in the field missions. This professional programme conceptualises the Protection of Civilians (POC), while giving a contemporary understanding on the theoretical nexus of women, peace, and security.
Peacekeeping operations widely deal with mission partners and coordinates with cluster groups (humanitarian and civilians components) in order to facilitate the application of International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and International Humanitarian Law (IHL), with due respect to the cultural diversities and practices of the host communities.
Along with the session of screening documentaries, we experienced complex simulations during the sessions of indoor exercises, which provided us actual understanding of the field missions.
This way BIPSOT provides ranges of trainings and courses. Any corps or nominees from Bangladesh joining UN missions are required to attend the trainings and courses. Over the years, this globally renowned training institute has coached a great number of foreign troops at its premises.
Peacekeepers operate at three tiers, which spell out initiating political process at the earliest step to solve the manifested tensions. With dysfunctions of the political leaders and the failure of diplomatic maneuvers, the missions justify physical violence against the threats in self defense and defense of the UNSC mandate, and finally, they secure protective environment in the areas of operations -- for the camp itself, and, as much as possible, for the peoples in dangers.
On the other hand, peacekeepers engage through four phases, which consists of prevention, pre-emption (offensive attacks on suspects), response (tactical operation during conflict time) and consolidation (peacetime rebuilding of a nation).
A lieutenant colonel, sitting next to me, was assigned in a deployment to Liberia, a country devastatingly affected by Ebola epidemic. Hearing this, immediately I raised concerns about the security of peacekeepers in the faces of contagious diseases. An instructor, with a nod to his uniform, firmly replied: “We are there to die in Liberia. We risked our lives for the sake of humanity, for whomever, wherever,”
The instructor, Major Gazi Ashiqur Rahman said: “We try our level best to a secure better tomorrow for the communities we are assigned to. The people are so much in need of peace, the aftermath of the war shattering everything, their lives and properties. We reached to the core of hearts of the community, breaking the fence of taboos, prejudices, and cultural barriers, sometimes even going beyond our call of duty and our areas of responsibility, if the mission is not harmed,” the senior major continued.
“Sometimes they select us as their community chiefs, rename their streets, parks, and markets after ‘Bangladesh,’ and even adopt Bangla as their second language. Please tell me, what could be a more prestigious branding for Bangladesh since independence?” instructor Maj Humayun asked.
Bangladesh commenced her voyage of Blue Helmets with the escalation of the Iraq-Iran war in 1988. Being the world’s largest troop-sending country with a 300% increase of crews in last two decades, today around 8,500 Bangladeshi peacekeepers are deployed at least in 54 missions of 40 countries. More than 119,980 members of the armed forces and the police have already served in most UN Missions.
Being one of only a few countries recognising the UN Charter in national constitutions, article 25 (1) of the Bangladeshi constitution directly proclaims the priority of promoting international peace and security, which greatly justifies the role of Bangladesh in UN missions.
Providing lucrative honorariums to the serving peace corps, peacekeeping has brought about enormous changes in Bangladeshi defense institutions. These training modules are designed with democratic values, with emphasis upon sole civilian protection and their effective coordination.
Rakibul Hasan was a participant of the training. He can be reached at [email protected].
