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As recognised in Security Council Resolution 2185 (2014) and the report of the High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO), United Nations Police are a critical component of peace operations. United Nations Police bolster one of the host State’s core functions through their support to national policing.

An independent review team was appointed by the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations in January 2016 to review the functions and responsibilities of the Police Division and provide recommendations in light of new demands, evolving mandates and mission environments. The review was prompted by the Secretary- General’s Report “The future of United Nations peace operations: implementation of the recommendations of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations” (A/70/357–S/2015/682).

The review team was co-chaired by the former Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) Hilde F. Johnson and Ambassador Abdallah Wafy, the Permanent Representative of Niger to the United Nations in New York and and former Police Commissioner and subsequently Deputy SRSG with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). The review team was supported by an independent secretariat, managed by the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT) of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).

The final report of the review team was submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General on 31 May 2016. Currently, the Secretariat is considering the recommendations in consultation with Member States and other partners with the goal of ensuring that United Nations Police Division can best support United Nations Police in the field.

More information

• Read the UN News story.
• Listen to an interview with Hilde Johnson, Co-Chair of the external review, was conducted by the United Nations Radio.
• Watch the press conference by the Co-Chairs of the external review is available at UN Web TV.

Note Verbale to Member States as of 5 May 2016, explaining the data template for Member States. For more information visit the UN Force link.

The User Manual for using the FPU Excel template for contingents (2016) is to be used by the UN Permanent missions whose uniformed contingents serve in the UN field missions. The manual provides a step by step guide on how to fill
the MS Excel Template required for travel and vetting of uniformed personnel on contingents, explain the data requirements and it will also indicate the mandatory fields. The MS Excel template is used to capture and record data of all FPU’s members who serve in the mission(s).

The template shows how the Excel sheet should be organized that Member States providing formed police units to UN peace operations have to use.

The template shows how the Excel sheet should be organized that Member States providing formed police units to UN peace operations have to use. To download the Excel file, click here (via UN Force link).

Find out more about the work of the United Nations Police Division Standing Police Capacity, based in Brindisi, Italy.

The Annual report provides an overview of the different tasks and achivements of the Standing Police Capacity in 2015.

The Guidelines include principles for any UN police commander tasked to lead officers from different countries with very different policing styles and provide guidance for the unique challenges this operating environment presents in the context of collaborating with the host-State police service and other elements of the operation.

To develop the guidelines, almost 100 experts from Member States, think tanks and partner organizations including the African Union, joined current and former UN police commissioners in Pretoria, South Africa in October 2014 to discuss various aspects of police command. The workshop was organised by the United Nations together with the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, the Swedish National Police and the support of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The guidelines complement the existing DPKO-DFS Policy on Authority, Command and Control in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (2008) with more detail for police commanders. They address managing human resources; capacity-building for transferring policing and law enforcement responsibilities to the host-State police; the zero-tolerance policy to sexual exploitation and abuse; human rights protection and employing intelligence-led policing strategies. The guidelines also include approaches on working with community members, including women, as full partners in policing activities; and facilitating the full participation of women and girls in decision-making, planning, implementation and oversight.

The aim of the Guidelines is to outline specific roles and responsibilities of United Nations police components – from the tactical-level police officer to the Police Commissioner – so each can conduct their work more effectively.