Practice Note on MONUSCO Engagement Teams ‐ Promoting the Women, Peace and Security Mandate

Abstract

This Practice Note on the MONUSCO Force's Engagement Teams explores the latter's role and best practices and challenges in promoting the Women, Peace and Security Mandate. As a key initiative to further promote gender-responsive military operations, the Office of Military Affairs introduced an Engagement Team (ET) capability in January 2020,incorporating trained ETs composed of at least 50 per cent female members into the peacekeeping infantry battalion structure. Engagement is a core military responsibility and focuses on interaction with representatives of the local population, government and nongovernmental actors to improve their understanding of UN peacekeeping; their buy-in and cooperation in protection of civilians and other peacekeeping initiatives; and to allow for enhanced service delivery and reporting by integrating the voices, needs and concerns of women, men, girls and boys in local communities. Key recommendations to further enhance the impact Engagement Teams can have in fostering peace and security objectives include streamlining Engagement Teams’ responsibilities; standardizing pre-deployment training; issuing guidance on reporting, monitoring and evaluation of ETs; firmly embedding Engagement Teams within the Force and Mission structure; syncing Engagement Teams’ deployments with their respective Force units; streamlining coordination and reporting lines of ETs; continued championing the role of Engagement Platoons in advancing Mandate implementation, among others.