People remained the same and practices unchanged. After an eight-month long process in Geneva, the last discussions were transposed to Sendai. March 2015, negotiation sessions, Sendai: the doctoral student takes part in the final phase of negotiations.
Embedded within the women’s civil society group throughout the process, she experiences security checks, witnesses the grand meeting halls, hears English as the lingua franca. July 2014, plenary meeting, Geneva: a doctoral student is granted access by the Women’s group advocating for gender equality and women’s empowerment to the first Preparatory Committee, in the lead up to the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. DPKO and DFS in New York follow the rhythm imposed by the Security Council and the daily pressure of member state permanent representations. UNEP in Geneva has more autonomy regarding its schedule and the demands of its member states based in Nairobi. Yet observing both situations helps discern misunderstandings rooted in spatial and temporal considerations: UN staff experience time differently in Geneva and New York. The New York team is frustrated with UNEP: UNEP is not realistic enough, does not understand DPKO and DFS political and material constraints and does not respect their specific pace.ĭifferent thematic foci, distinct status within the UN system, divergent agendas and contrasting organizational cultures hamper the collaboration between these two UN bodies.
Her first task is to ‘translate’ UNEP’s recommendations into feasible suggestions for peacekeepers in order to regain ‘ownership’ over a report dedicated to peacekeeping missions but written by ‘outsiders’. November 2012, UN Headquarters, New York City: a volunteer has been appointed to work on peacekeeping and the environment within a division shared between DPKO and DFS. : they have been slow in answering emails, not always cooperative and do not see the opportunity of such a publication to push the environmental peacebuilding agenda forward. The team leader shows much frustration toward their partners in the departments of peacekeeping operations (DPKO) and field support (DFS) 1 1ĭPKO has since been renamed DPO (Department of Peace Operations) and DFS is now DOS (Department of Operational Support). Data collection has been challenging and the drafts kept undisclosed. June 2011, International Environment House, Geneva: a research assistant hired by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is helping to prepare a report on the environment, natural resources and peacekeeping operations. Contributing to growing scholarship on everyday practices in international organization (IO) studies, we show how the temporal and spatial experiences of individuals involved in UN processes shape the way the organization functions. In this article we shift the focus by analyzing time and space as they are individually and socially experienced within the UN. It paints a picture of the external constraints imposed onto the organization. Situating the United Nations (UN) action in time and space implies presenting contextual elements and their potential influence.
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