From the 8th to 12th of November 2010, UNITARs Peacekeeping Training Programme, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), delivered a training of trainers (ToT) in Nairobi, Kenya on Natural Resource Management and Peacekeeping. This event, sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office, was attended by environmental focal points from 17 different UN missions and by representatives from four regional training centres.

Experts presented material ranging from the relationship between conflict and natural resources to how peacekeepers can leave a lighter footprint on the environment. In addition, Quick Impact Projects (QIPs), Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes, and Civil Affairs were discussed in light of the environment and the ways in which linking projects to environmental issues can be used as entry points into a greater peace building project.

Using case studies, the course focused on how resources can be managed in post-conflict environments to eliminate potential obstacles to peace, and drew attention to how natural resource management can support broader peacebuilding interventions, confidence-building measures, and overall state building. In aligning with the principles of ToTs, participants developed training skills and received support material that will assist them to build the capacities of their own missions and centres and allow them to educate additional groups on this important issue.