Thirty three UNMIL staff members were brimming with enthusiasm and determined to apply their newly acquired skills as they graduated after a two-week intensive training course on 14 March.

For some like David Koon, a Field Mechanic in the Supply Section, the course was a life changer. Koon said he had already applied his newly acquired negotiating skills to successfully resolve a longstanding family problem.

“We had a family problem but since I did that course, I have solved problems that I never thought I would solve,” he said, adding that after receiving the diploma “I will be an effective professional.”

Administrative Assistant, Esther James said the course helped her gain new insights into working with “people from different backgrounds and strategies for problem solving with colleagues.”

Director of Mission Support Hubert Price presented the graduates with their diplomas and invited them to talk about what they had learned during the Effective Professional Diploma Programme.

Darse Seward, a Fireman in the Security Section said, “the course enhanced our professionalism as well as our human relations skills.”

UN Police Officer Sovasova Mesake summed up the training in one phrase when he said: “Know the people you are serving, know the work process and have patience.”

Price said these responses were spot on. “That is the essence of what it takes to work successfully in a peacekeeping mission and to get on with people,” he said. He explained the importance of empathy, which means putting yourself in another person’s shoes and feeling what they feel.

Price urged the participants to reach out to colleagues and try to be a role model to them when it comes to attitudes. “Encourage your colleagues to take up this course. Share the knowledge you have gained with them,” he urged the new graduates.

The Effective Professional Diploma Program was organized by the Integrated Mission Training Center (IMTC)   of UNMIL.  Sarah Seeboe-Neufville, an IMTC Team Assistant, said the Diploma programs build a broad range of skills, including soft skills and planning skills. They also generate motivation for continued professional growth and finding solutions to work-based challenges as we encounter them on a daily basis. “Thus you could call the courses a skill laboratory,” she said.

As UNMIL transitions over the coming years, more and more jobs will become non-existent, and these new professional diploma courses are expected to enhance the skills of staff members so that they could be better equipped to find alternative job opportunities in the future.