Lesson 6: UN-CIMIC Liaison and Information Sharing

 Video Transcript

Welcome to Lesson 6. Lesson 6 is basically about liaison and information sharing – this important aspect of coordination. Liaison is important to civilianizing, but also important to localizing, but particularly to the civilianizing effort. So this lesson is going to discuss what liaison is in general and then specify what UN-CIMIC liaison is all about. It’s really part of thinking globally and acting locally, as any CIMIC officer should be able to do. Now, the ways and means of liaison include communication, it includes building relationships, which is really fundamental to UN-CIMIC, it’s using coordination – or supporting coordination centers, more importantly – and being in meetings, working groups, and other sort of coordination events and activities. Liaison, coordination, and information sharing is really more art than science, and UN-CIMIC officers who conduct liaison and information sharing should engage persistently and quietly, but with great effect – kind of like the old famous boxer Muhammad Ali, who once said, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” So, when you’re doing liaison, remember that you’re there to facilitate a process, that you’re doing enabling, that you’re supporting a much larger activity – and that’s why it goes simply beyond the standard liaison officer job of just passing information back and forth. You’re an enabler. Keep that in mind.