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Participants from Sri Lanka, L to R: Brig. Gen. Dulsiriudeni Munasinghe, Maj. Gen. P. S. B. Kulatunge, and Mr. Ahmed Aful Jawad, Director of the UN Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the Honorable Sheikh Hasina, opened the Peacekeeping Gaming Seminar with a speech highlighting the importance of peacekeeping operations to the world, and the important role the Bangladesh military has taken in UN operations.
The seminar was conducted in the form of a game so that participants would engage in a more in-depth dialogue, and would have a more meaningful and interesting exchange. The game centered around a crisis in a fictional country where law and order had broken down and hostilities had escalated between a number of factions. Participants were then required to begin the planning process for UN involvement at the highest level. A total of three moves were conducted during the course of the seminar-game in which participants focused on three key aspects of UN level peacekeeping planning and preparation. Participants were broken down into four syndicates for conducting the moves.
In the first move,
the participants focused on developing a UN mandate and Security Council
resolution to avert or mitigate the crisis. This was intended to give
everyone an understanding and appreciation for the process and challenge
undertaken by the UN when planning a peace operation.
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Brig. A. K. M. Farid Uddin Ahmed, Commandant of the Bangladesh PKO Training Center, describes the mob control lane (simulated in the background) to U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Loop and Bangladesh Army Maj. Gen. Harun-ar-Rashid, Chief of General Staff. In the center: Cmdr. Razali bin Md. Ali, Royal Malaysian Navy.
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Display of Bangladesh Army PKO equipment at the PKO Training Center. |
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Next, the working groups were required to conduct a mission analysis of the UN-mandated operation as if they were the Special Representative to the Secretary General, Head of Mission Staff, and Force Commander. Some of the decisions the groups had to make included: force structure for the peacekeeping force, integration of other organizations and agencies, force mission statement, and exit strategy.
