reimbursements for moving units in mid-operation. If such
mid-operation movements are required, SETM is well suited
with temporarily rented industrial moving equipment and
trucks.
Overall, the UN PKO COE operational policy requirements
for procuring the amount of essential electrical generation
needed per manned unit is conducive to accepting, and does
not prevent the integration of, SETM; as long as the SETM,
with operational capability and sufficient backup capacity to
main camps and medical facilities around the clock, is provided.
As is often the case with the use of SETM in field environments,
the SETM battery storage by default, serves as the back up to
the system. If the batteries no longer hold a charge, smaller,
Financing and Procurement/Logistics
Although UN members’ financial contributions are equal as
they are proportionate, internal UN political capital is considered via a more laissez faire system. When comparing the regular
UN budget to the UN Peacekeeping budget, the UN DPKO
manages more funds (est. USD7.5B36) than the UNSG manages (est. USD2.6B37). Financing for UN PKO is via established
funds for reimbursements to nations providing peacekeeping
logistical and sustainment aspects. UN programs administering
UN PKO equipment, services, and training are funded in the
form of the Contingency Owned Equipment (COE) system,
the UN Procurement Division (UNPD), and its United Nations Global Marketplace (UNGM) online vendor registration
system. The UNPD website describes COE and UNPD, as
follows:
The UNPD conducts procurement for the UN Headquarters in New York, Peacekeeping/Political Missions, Tribunals
and Commissions. Selected offices away from Headquarters
do have delegated procurement authority to carry out their
own procurement up to established financial limits. The
UNPD generally conducts purchases beyond these limits
and for global acquisition projects.38
The details of the finance and procurement processes are located
online wherein the UNPD system is made more transparent for
LDCs. Moreover, the UNPD might seize the opportunity to
work with the UNSG to establish a SETM procurement and
distribution fund as a project, which is language used in UNPD
policy on its website.
and more fuel efficient than traditional, generators are used to
recharge those SETM batteries.35 For example, at night if the
batteries are depleted late into the evening after the sun charged
them during the day, then a more efficient generator can charge
the batteries.
After financing is approved, sustaining procurement and logistics for SETM in UN PKO is more easily done with traditional
sea/air/ground shipments of containers. SETM shipments are
of chemically stable and inert materiel; or more simply stated,
sand-based plastics, steel, and batteries. The costs of SETM
shipments are minimal and a fraction in comparison to regularly repeating fossil fuel shipments. Should there be UN project
engineering questions; an example of how procurement and installation might take place can be seen in the U.S. DoD’s Rapid
Innovation Fund (RIF) procurement concept, recently reported
by the Wall Street Journal.39 “RIF provides a collaborative vehicle for small businesses to provide the department with innovative technologies that can be rapidly inserted into acquisition
programs that meet specific defense needs.”40 The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers was the group awarded RIF so UN planners
could specifically look to them for program guidance.
Moreover, the UN can be sure the U.S. Department of Defense
has been considering SETM use in the operational setting.
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