The United Nations has a lot of job openings listed on their UN Careers website. Among them is this: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration officers who will work under the UN’s Department of Peace Operations throughout the world. Including, apparently, in the United States.
The job listing for the position mentions a duty station as the UN’s New York City headquarters.
This position is located in the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Section of the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI), within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in New York. New York is classified as a hardship “H” duty station and family duty station. The incumbent reports to and is under the overall supervision of the DDR Section Chief. [Ed: Interesting that “DDR” used to stand for Deutsche Demokratische Republik, i.e., East Germany.]
How does the UN describe the mission of its DDR officer? Just what it sounds like:
- “Acts as a Focal Point for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) components for two to three missions, responsible for planning, support to implementation and evaluation”
It reads like the UN Secretariat is hiring cannon fodder. A “career” in disarmament that consists of two to three missions? Does that come with burial insurance?
Sounds like UN management doesn’t have very high expectations for their disarmament officers.
The UN actually describes the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration mission as follows, from the UN DDR webpage:
- “Disarmament is the collection, documentation, control and disposal of small arms, ammunition, explosives and light and heavy weapons of combatants and often also of the civilian population. Disarmament also includes the development of responsible arms management programmes.
- “Demobilization is the formal and controlled discharge of active combatants from armed forces or other armed groups. The first stage of demobilization may extend from the processing of individual combatants in temporary centres to the massing of troops in camps designated for this purpose (cantonment sites, encampments, assembly areas or barracks). The second stage of demobilization encompasses the support package provided to the demobilized, which is called reinsertion.
- “Reinsertion* is the assistance offered to ex-combatants during demobilization but prior to the longer-term process of reintegration. Reinsertion is a form of transitional assistance to help cover the basic needs of ex-combatants and their families and can include transitional safety allowances, food, clothes, shelter, medical services, short-term education, training, employment and tools. While reintegration is a long-term, continuous social and economic process of development, reinsertion is short-term material and/or financial assistance to meet immediate needs, and can last up to one year.
- “Reintegration is the process by which ex-combatants acquire civilian status and gain sustainable employment and income. Reintegration is essentially a social and economic process with an open time-frame, primarily taking place in communities at the local level. It is part of the general development of a country and a national responsibility, and often necessitates long-term external assistance.”
That should make America’s law-abiding gun owners feel all warm and fuzzy, no?
Back to the DDR officer job duties, per the UN careers listing:
- “Participates in DPO and Integrated Task Force planning meetings for the establishment of a new peacekeeping mission with a potential DDR component;
- Provides technical assistance to peace negotiations;
- Participates in technical assessment missions;
- Advises, develops and reviews (as appropriate) initial DDR functional strategy and concept of operations for further development into a full programme by the DDR component and the National DDR Commission;
- Drafts and reviews DDR inputs to SG report, code cables, and talking points;
- Develops initial result-based framework and budget for new DDR components in new mission;
- Liaises with UNDP and donor community to raise voluntary contributions for DDR programmes”
Fundraising!
- “Presents and/or defends new and subsequent DDR budgetary requirements in the ACABQ and the 5th Committee of the General Assembly;
- Develops staffing structure and terms of reference for a DDR component, including terms of integration with other UN agencies, funds and programmes;
- Provides technical clearance for applicants to DDR units in new and ongoing missions;
- Provides Headquarters support in planning the civilian and military logistics support for DDR;
- Continually reviews DDR programme strategy and implementation through relevant documents, reports and code cables;
- Conducts field missions to assess implementation of established DDR programmes;
- Identifies potential problems and issues to be addressed and suggests remedies to DDR units in the field;
- Liaises with Member States, UN actors and other DDR interested partners to represent the mission’s DDR component at the Headquarters level;
- Establishes and maintains an outreach network with CSOs and IGOs active in the area of DDR.
- Supports the doctrine development work in the area of DDR in the department, with the Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) on DDR and other relevant national and international actors working on DDR issues;
- Contributes to Department-level or Policy Committee-level policy development work on DDR and related issues;
- Maintains and further develops the Integrated DDR Standards – a set of inter-agency policies, guidelines and procedures on DDR;
- On behalf of the Chief of the DDR Section, co-chairs the IAWG on DDR, contributes to bringing coherence to the interaction of the UN system and its partners on DDR;
- Supervises the Associate Expert (Junior Professional Officer) in the development and maintenance of the web-based United Nations DDR Resource Centre;
- Liaises with others (UN, regional organisations and Member States) providing DDR.
Other duties as required.”
(from UN.org)The one-world government types at the UN “strongly” encourage women to apply. Is this because women have unique skill sets that facilitate taking guns away from recalcitrant bitter clingers around the globe?
No. It has more to do with arbitrary “commitment”:
- “The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.”
Applicants should also know that “The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.“
Applicants might be non-smoking . . . unless and until they decide to take on the mission of ‘disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating’ the deplorables in America’s rural areas. Then the smoke may rise.
As people of the gun, we probably know plenty of law-abiding American gun owners who would go ‘weapons free’ at the sight of blue UN helmets attempting to them. If, that is, one of those Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration officers ever decided to adopt the US as one of their missions.
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—Robert A. Margulies, MD, MPH, FACEP, FACPM is an emergency medicine specialist, retired Navy Medical Corps captain, sworn peace officer, and firearm trainer with multiple certifications from the NRA and the Massad Ayoob Group.
All DRGO articles by Robert A. Margulies, MD, MPH
