Milestones in UN Peacekeeping [PTP.2024.11E]
UNITAR Peacekeeping Training Programme Unit, in partnership with the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, offers a short course on the History of UN Peacekeeping. This course can be taken in conjunction with the UNITAR Peacekeeping Training Programme Unit course Introduction to Peace Operations for credit in the International Master Degree in Conflict, Peace and Security at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. This course offers an overview of the history of UN peacekeeping from the founding of the United Nations in 1945 up to present day and presents current trends in peacekeeping that may shape the future.
The goal of the course History of UN Peacekeeping is to provide a panoramic overview of the pivotal events in the history of UN peacekeeping that have shaped its present form.
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Describe the beginnings of UN peacekeeping;
- Identify the four generations of UN peacekeeping operations and the main characteristics of each.
The course is composed of four lessons:
- Lesson 1: First Generation Peacekeeping: The Cold War (1945 – 1987)
- Lesson 2: Second Generation Peacekeeping: Following the Cold War (1988 – 1996)
- Lesson 3: Third Generation Peacekeeping: Peace Support Operations (1997 – present)
- Lesson 4: Fourth Generation Peacekeeping: The Next Twist
The average work time is estimated at 4 hours.
The course is a self-guided, self-paced, web-based course that is on-going and can be accessed at any time. The material is presented in text format with visual aids and web-based reference resources. Multiple choice quizzes at the end of each lesson serve a dual function of assessing and evaluating the students’ understanding and retention and provide a further didactic function by reviewing the content.
Primary audience: The course is designed for anyone who has an interest and curiosity in the history of peacekeeping.
Secondary audience: The course is geared towards any professionals who would like to earn credit towards a Master’s degree in Conflict, Peace and Security parallel to their careers.
Participants are not expected to have prior experience in or knowledge of peacekeeping operations. However, as this is a course for university credit, participants must:
- Have a university degree in a relevant area with proven interest in protection of civilians (BA or equivalent) or the equivalent working experience in a relevant field (2 to 4 years);
- Have good command of English language (reading and writing);
- Be computer literate.
Technical Requirements
UNITAR recommends the following as a minimum in hardware and software to take our e-Learning courses. Please consult your Network Administrator or Systems person to ensure that you have the following:
Hardware requirements
- Desktop or laptop computer with Windows 10 or MacOS version 11 and later
- Tablet or mobile devices are not fully supported on some course tools
- Stable LAN or Wifi Internet connection
Browser
- Latest version of Mozilla Firefox (download for free at https://www.mozilla.org)
- Latest version of Google Chrome (download for free at https://www.google.com/chrome)
- Microsoft Edge or Safari (included in your computer)
Other software
- PDF reader (download for free at https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader)
- Microsoft Office for Windows or MacOS (compatible software can be downloaded at http://www.openoffice.org/)
- Video player (Quicktime for MacOS, Windows Media Player or compatible video player)
- Anti-virus
Other requirements
- Disable Pop-up blockers
- Enable cookies and java
- webcam and audio headset for courses that will require online meetings
- additional storage in case you need to download course materials
You will receive a confirmation email with information on how to access the course within 48 hours. Please kindly check your spam or junk inbox.