Peacekeeping and Public Information

Ms Lehmann demonstrates, through case studies of five peacekeeping operations - Namibia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Haiti and Eastern Slavonia - that public information functions, structures and processes are normally ignored in the mandate.They may or may not be successfully added-on later, and are in the event too often relegated to specialist staff. The resultant ad-hoc conduct of the public affairs of the mission leaves too much to chance, and may lead to a fragmented and often contradictory execution at too low a level. This portends ominously for the manner in which the operation will be perceived, and eventually as well for the manner in which peacekeeping operations in general may be judged. It seems certain that Ms Lehmann's modest but compelling proposals are ideas whose time has come, as witness the recent report of the Secretary General of the United Nations to the General Assembly, Reviewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform, 'which calls for a major shift in the public information and communications strategy and functions of the United Nations...'. That report also urges that 'the communications functions be placed at the heart of the strategic management of the organization.' Ms Lehmann has provided a timely and challenging prescription for just how these goals might be achieved - and a dramatic warning of the consequences of failing to do so. Ingrid Lehmann is a United Nations official with over two decades experience in peacekeeping and public information. She combines the insider's knowledge of the U.N. Secretariat and analytical understanding of international issues.