Ms Hester Paneras supported the implementation of the UN Senior Mission Leadership (SML) course that was conducted in Tokyo, Japan, from 19 to 30 June 2023.  She was invited to be a mentor on the programme due to her previous experience as Police Commissioner in the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and her background and knowledge in leadership, peace operations and organisational development.

The SML course aims to prepare participants for Senior Leadership positions in multidimensional peace operations and enable Member States officials who cover peacekeeping issues to understand better how multidimensional peacekeeping missions operate.  It increases the number of trained leaders available for selection of leadership posts in DPO peacekeeping missions and in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) special political missions.  The course provides participants with an understanding of the importance of Cooperation, Coordination, Communication, Consensus and Integration for effective Mission Leadership Team (MLT) functioning within complex peace operations underpinned by the UN legal framework management.

The course was attended by 26 senior officials, including senior UN staff, senior Government Officials, Ambassadors, Military Generals and Police Commissioners from various UN member states, as well as the AU Representative to the UN.