UN launches conflict 'swat team'

The United Nations has set up a team of experts in conflict mediation who can deploy quickly to global hotspots with advice on power sharing, constitution drafting, security, justice and human rights.

UN undersecretary general for political affairs Lynn Pascoe likened the six-member team of mobile mediators to “a SWAT team” that could respond to requests from UN officials in the field, governments and regional groups.

“When you get a situation that no-one expected, like Kenya, our idea is to be able to move, and move extremely quickly,” he said, referring to violence that followed a disputed election in December.

In fact, two team members – constitution-writing expert Andrew Ladley of New Zealand and security expert Jeffrey Mapendere of Zimbabwe – skipped this week’s orientation at UN headquarters in New York and were sent to Kenya because their skills were needed there urgently, Mr Pascoe said.

“We’re using ... members of the team in areas where there’s something that really can be done,” he said.

“For example, if we get to the point where we’re doing a constitutional revision or discussion in Somalia, then there might be a need for them.”

Mr Pascoe said the list of possible places that team members would be sent “is longer than any of us would like”.

Jan Eliasson, the UN envoy trying to promote a peace agreement in Darfur, “has pestered me for more expertise”, he said, and there could be a need for the UN experts in Iraq and Cyprus if there was “another full-blown effort” to reunite the divided Mediterranean island.

But Mr Pascoe stressed that the UN worked for the 192 member states, and “when it comes to mediation, this has to be something that is agreed by the various groups”.

The idea of an “on call” team of experts who can manage complex negotiations was the brainchild of former UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland, who set up something similar for humanitarian emergencies and suggested it could work on the political front.

“There used to be a time when you could send out somebody with a good name and a lawyer to go with them and one assistant and they would go out and negotiate a deal,” he said.

“These days, you’re into all kinds of very broad ranges, particularly if it involves internal issues.”

Mr Pascoe said he expected the team to be “oversubscribed” with requests for their expertise fairly soon, and to spend about 80% of their time in the field.

The team, which was chosen from over 400 applicants, is being funded for a year by the Norwegian government and the Norwegian Refugee Council handled their contracts in order to avoid time-consuming UN bureaucracy.

Team leader is Joyce Neu, an American who has mediated in conflicts and conducted assessments in dozens of countries as an adviser on conflict resolution to former US president Jimmy Carter and as founding executive director of the Joan B Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego.

She said all the members were “very excited”.

“There are innumerable conflicts in the world, and our hope is that as a team we can apply some of our knowledge to these efforts to bring about peace more effectively and more sustainably,” she said.

One team member is still being recruited. The two other team members are Patrick Gavigan, an expert on transitional justice and human rights with dual US and Irish citizenship, and John McGarry, a Canadian expert on power sharing.