WNAM MONITORING: The United Nations Staff Officer Course (UNSOC) is being hosted by Kazakhstan Peace Operations Centre (KAZCENT).
The course is attended by Kazakhstani officers, as well as members of the armed forces of Great Britain, Germany, and China, with a total of 17 participants.
The instructors are KAZCENT servicemen with extensive experience in training personnel for peacekeeping operations and service in the UN missions in Africa and the Middle East.
The course is based on training materials developed and recommended by the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO) to train staff officers prior to deployment for further service in the mission.
The course leader is Lieutenant Colonel Ermek Tulesov, a senior officer in the Peacekeeping Training Department of the KAZCENT. As a staff officer, he served in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
Lieutenant Colonel Tulesov clarified that staff officers are engaged in a number of activities, including planning, coordination, control of the implementation of tasks, monitoring of the current situation in their area of responsibility in real time, analysis of events, preparation of reports and proposals for mission command in relevant areas. During the classes, the students are informed of the experience of the staff officers and the difficulties and nuances faced by the UN mission staff officers are highlighted.
It is noteworthy that the course was certified by the UN in 2018 and has been held for the fourth consecutive year. During this period, KAZCENT has trained approximately 50 military specialists to work in the headquarters of United Nations missions. The course will conclude at the end of May, at which point the military personnel will receive the UN certificates.
The KAZCENT originated as the Partnership for Peace Training Center in 2006 at the Institute of Foreign Languages under the Ministry of Defense. It underwent reorganization in 2023, becoming the Center for Peacekeeping Operations. Currently, it holds membership in the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centers (IAPTC) and the Partnership Training and Education Centers Community (PTEC). Over the past two decades, more than 600 service officers from Kazakhstan’s Armed Forces have participated in UN peacekeeping missions across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
