E N G I N E ER IN G S TA N D A R D I ZA T I O N A N D D E S I G N C E N T R E

NEWSLETTER
Engineering Standardization and Design Centre May 2013
Global Service Centre Volume 8
Brindisi, Italy
esdc@un.org © 2013 ESDC
1.NEW MISSION
MINUSMA, Mali
2 .USG VISIT TO UNGSC
3. NEW FUNCTIONS AT
ESDC
4.IPSAS UPDATE
5.WATER AND WASTE
MANAGEMENT POLICY DE-
VELOPMENT
6.MODULARIZATION
Exploring Alternative Options
for Sustainable Power Supply in
UN Camps
Three Modular Camps in Moga-
dishu, UNSOA
Camp Costing Template
Water Management Ancient shrine of a Muslim saint in Timbouctou, Mali, on July 1, 2012
7.MISSION SUPPORT The strategic end state of mission support
UNISFA, Abyei - Engineering MINUSMA aimed for comprises effective and efficient
Assessment
UNSMIL, Tripoli - Planning &
New UN Peacekeeping support in all functional areas of supply, engi-
neering, medical, strategic movement, commu-
Design
UNOWA, Dakar - Engineering
Mission in Mali nications and information technology.
Abhinav Wakhloo
Assessment for Political Mission The paramount objective, however, is to en-
On 25 April 2013 Security Council Resolution able all mandated activities while reducing the
8.WHAT’S NEW AT ESDC?
Welcome New Staff S/RES/2100 (2013) decided to establish the mission footprint and minimizing the require-
ESDC-GIS Partnership United Nations Multidimensional Integrated ment for a large support presence. Cross-
ESDC-SPC Cooperation Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). border support for administrative functions in
9. WORKSHOPS & PRESEN- The SC, acting under Chapter VII of the Char- partnership with neighbouring missions
TATIONS ter of the United Nations, „requests the Secre- (ONUCI and UNMIL) and reliance, as far as
Sweden Delegation tary-General to subsume the United Nations practicable, on UNGSC and RSCs will be the
Japan Delegation Office in Mali (UNOM) into MINUSMA, with approaches used to ensure this is achievable
Camp Building Workshop MINUSMA assuming responsibility for the without compromising service reliability. Ef-
Presentation to Italian Navy in
discharge of UNOM‟s mandated tasks… and forts are being made to reduce the numbers of
San Vito
DefenCell - Applications further decides that the authority be trans- UN civilian support staff by maximizing deliv-
ferred from AFISMA (African-led Interna- ery through contractors, TCC enabling capaci-
10. ESDC PRODUCTS
tional Support Mission in Mali, (S/RES/2085 ties and through Letters of Assist across all
SharePoint
Standards Library 2012) to MINUSMA on 1 July 2013‟. functional areas.
Groove DFS is tasked with developing and refining Preliminary camp concepts are being planned
plans for the provision of logistics support (SG by ESDC in line with modularization strate-
11.MISSION ENGINEERING
SECTION: UNSOA to SC S/2012/37 dated 21 January 2013) for gies to facilitate rapid deployment and estab-
the large number of uniformed and civilian lishment while ensuring the most efficient use
12.OUTLOOK
The Young Professional Program personnel planned for deployment on the basis of available resources. Camps will cater,
of an integrated peacekeeping operation. through colocation, for Military troops, IPOs,
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 May 2013
Map of Mali
MSOs, and civilian (UN and contractor)
components. All camp services will be
the responsibility of contractors – cater-
ing, cleaning, maintenance and transit
accommodation. Colocation is a modus
operandi that has been tried and tested in
UNSOA with a number of advantages.
Modularization focuses on efficient re-
source management in camp planning,
design, construction and sustenance; wa-
ter resource and waste management are
critical areas that will be overseen by
dedicated UN staff to guarantee compli-
ance to UN policies and guidelines and
internationally accepted standards. Cau-
tious use of all local natural resources –
water, construction materials, wastewater
treatment, solid and hazardous waste
management, reduced power consump-
Existing premises in proximity of Gao Airport
tion and the use of solar energy, is being
adopted or phased-in. Detailed environ-
mental impact assessments are being
planned for possible base and camp loca-
tions and the baseline conditions and
mitigation measures incorporated into the
implementation procedures.
With all the above forming underlying
but critical ToRs, a planning team was
Christian Henze during a TAM1 assessment in Mali
tasked in April 2012 with carrying out
the preliminary assessments; it com-
prised Michael Collins, Eric Bennet,
Diederik Dieltjens and Christian Henze.
A brief functional and size description
for each of four major sites is given sub-
sequently.
Gao (55ha) – Joint Force/Mission HQ,
Battalion Camp and Regional HQ. The
site upon which the concept designs are
already being based is an unoccupied
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area adjacent to the airport, thereby per-
mitting direct access to the apron for
operational needs.
Timbouctou (50ha) – Battalion Camp
and Sector HQ. This is similarly planned
for location in the proximity of the air-
port.
Kidal (66ha) – Battalion Camp. This site
is approximately 1km south of the air-
field and currently occupied by French
and Chadian troops.
Tessalit (50ha) – Battalion Camp. It is
intended that the battalion will be located
in the former Malian Military Base camp,
which is about 300m from the airfield
and currently occupied by French troops.
The concentration of numbers, in each of
these locations, presents resource man-
agement challenges, both for water sup-
ply and waste generation. Mali generally
faces numerous environmental chal-
Example of an existing structure in an assessed area
lenges, including desertification, defores-
tation, soil erosion, famine and inade-
quate supplies of potable water but this is
even more pronounced in the Sahel
where the peace, security and stability of
the region continues to be threatened.
A second team, TAM2, is planned for
departure to Mali around mid-May to
take planning and implementation into
the detailed design phase.
ESDC will continue to work closely with
the team to support, develop, integrate
and address these principles. Focus will
be on a 300 person Mission HQ and a
600 person transit camp in Bamako and a
600 person transit camp in Niamey; in
addition to the camps for Gao and Tim-
bouctou.
****
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 May 2013
Ms. Ameerah Haq, Under Secretary-General, DFS,
and Mr. Kiplin Perkins, Director UNGSC
USG VISIT TO
UNGSC
Pamela Treveri
The Under Secretary-General of the De-
partment of Field Support (USG, DFS),
Ms. Ameerah Haq, visited UNLB/
UNGSC in Brindisi on 5 September
2012. During the visit she acknowledged
that the logistic bases in Brindisi and
Valencia have been playing a central role
in responding to various mission opera-
tional requirements. The strategic loca-
tions of both of them have been instru-
Ms. Ameerah Haq USG, and Mr. Martin Peace,
Chief Logistics Service
mental and essential for the provision of
effective and immediate support to
peacekeeping operations over the years.
She further recognised what UNLB/
UNGSC has been able to achieve in its
strategic support functions through its
strong collaboration with the Italian Air
Force (ITAF). The USG was briefed by
Mr. Perkins, Director UNGSC, about all
the activities at the base and she met a
number of national and international staff
during a tour of the base. She expressed
her encouragement for the on-going ini-
tiatives to establish an integrated interna-
tional school in Brindisi to promote re-
spect for diversity and provide a way for
UNGSC to contribute towards commu-
nity development.
Ms. Haq emphasized how critical global
and regional service centres are in
achieving the Global Field Support Strat-
egy (GFSS) to provide timely and high
quality support to field missions through
the adoption of specific, yet complimen-
tary roles. Following the visit to Brindisi,
she reported to Special Committee in
Peacekeeping Operations in February
this year that, „GSC had deployed 100
mission-support personnel to meet a
range of requirements in logistics, ad-
ministration and information and tech-
nology for 12 missions‟, specifically
citing the successful implementation and
testing of predefined modular service
packages for AMISOM in Mogadishu.
The USG also called on a number of dig-
nitaries in Rome in separate meetings;
the Italian Minister of Defence, Admiral
Giampaolo Di Paola, the Secretary Gen-
eral Michele Valensise of the Italian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the
MFA Director for UN and Human
Rights, Mr. Massimo Marotti. While in
Brindisi she had discussions with the
Prefetto di Brindisi, Dr. Nicola Prete and
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with the Mayor, Dr. Mimmo Consales.
****
NEW FUNCTIONS
AT ESDC
Abhinav Wakhloo, Andres Gomez-Jimenez
and Jacquelyn Amoko
Effective November 2012, the General
Assembly approved the transfer of cer-
tain functions from DFS Headquarters
(LSD) to the Global Support Centre (A/
RES/66/265).
As such ESDC acknowledges that its
support to Field Missions and UNHQ are
categorised as either part of a mandatory
business process or as voluntary requests
for technical consultation/inputs. Manda-
tory review processes, for each of which
different criteria apply, are deemed to
include LPA approval prior to submis-
sion to PD, TCC claims, Ex post facto
cases, acquisition plans, annual engineer-
ing budget submissions, and claims from
permanent missions.
ESDC is taking this opportunity to reor-
ganize the team to better reflect, coordi-
nate and respond to the assumed respon-
sibilities and is adopting approaches that
promote enhanced participation, and col-
laboration. An SOP defining the techni-
cal clearance process for Local Procure-
ment Authority (LPA) and Ex Post Facto
(EPF) cases, which are central support
functions transferred, has been recently
approved and will be promulgated (see
„Technical Review‟ article).
An overarching SOP clarifying all ESDC
functions is similarly under review, with
the aim that this will provide guidance
and establish clear points of contact, to
our counterparts in missions, when any
of the support functions are required. For
support functions considered optional,
ESDC may be called upon via email
(esdc@un.org); depending on the nature
of the request, for example, where on-
ground engineering support may be re-
quired, Missions shall be advised on how
best to proceed.
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 May 2013
In taking on these new roles, and with
increasing strains on Mission budgets,
ESDC is prioritizing the extension of
support to the field through intensifying
the sharing of guidelines and best prac-
tices, development of standard design
packages and carrying out reviews of
projects and various documents where
necessary.
A number of additional supporting func-
tions can be expected to be defined as
processes evolve and resource availabil-
ity vs. needs and capability emerge in
due course and essentially as ESDC be-
comes better established; and as the UNs
focus on sustainability, the environment
and improved policy and compliance
issues continue to be addressed.
ESDC supports the adoption of innova-
tive approaches to everyday problems in
the peacekeeping context and seeks op-
portunities to integrate needs with added-
value – incorporating realization of the
clients‟ objectives while offering support
towards matched/similar unmet needs.
ESDC‟s access to global operations pro-
vides an ideal platform for this holistic
and comprehensive methodology.
One of the ways ESDC focuses on its
delivery is through fostering a dedicated
team spirit – something as simple as a
regular coffee ritual means that we are
friends as well as colleagues. Collabora-
tion is part of our culture and this enables
us use our limited resources in an optimal
way to satisfy our clients at a time of
unprecedented change in mission opera-
tions and management systems.
Upcoming editions of the newsletter will
continue to share the details on the new
roles, how they are being implemented
and what benefits the team have been
able to share with global engineering
teams and our other partners.
Who is Issuing Technical
Clearance?
ESDC has taken ownership of the techni-
cal clearance process as part of the func-
tions transferred from NY to GSC last
year and aims, in carrying out the techni-
cal clearance process, to contribute to-
wards value addition, sharing successes
and procedural standardization as well as
to provide independent case verification
before the project is presented, by the
Mission, to the pertinent parties in
UNHQ.
Each requisitioner takes on the role of the
Organisation‟s Subject Matter Expert
(SME) and is responsible for the de-
velopment of comprehensive and unam-
biguous, SORs, SOWs, and technical
specifications communicate a future
need, either new or recurring, in a man-
ner to allow a potential vendor to pre-
cisely understand, plan for and price
against. These procurement documents
also define the basis for evaluating sub-
missions as well as bind the successful
vendor to perform in accordance with the
specifications.
The technical clearance process is a criti-
cal part of the overall procurement proce-
dures to provide a system of checks and
balances i.e. counterbalancing influences
to regulate and ensure that the Organiza-
tion gets best value for money and is not
taking on unnecessary risk in getting its
needs met by the vendor. Through the
TC process, the technical aspects of a
project are assessed in terms of the over-
all structure, the project description, the
specifications, BOQ, drawings and illus-
trations and the evaluation criteria.
Technical clearance is sought in cases of
Local Procurement Authority (LPA) if
the purchase cost, involving a single con-
tractor, exceeds the delegated authority
of a Mission i.e. exceeding $1M for Core
Requirements or $0.5M for other require-
ments. It is also mandatory in special
cases where the use of current system
contracts or alternative current stocks
does not effectively meet the require-
ment. All the same, the Mission at its
discretion may deem other situations
would benefit from the process even if
they do not meet the above criteria, e.g.
when the mission would like to purchase
goods under a systems contract of a UN
agency.
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The Technical Clearance (TC) process
for Local Procurement Authority (LPA)
for engineering projects and vehicle
spare parts requisitions has now been
streamlined; details of which are in-
cluded in the SOP for „Technical Clear-
ance for LPA and Technical Review of
Ex Post Facto (EPF) Presentations‟ ap-
proved May 2013. The SOP supersedes
previous LPA guidance provided by
LSD/DFS insofar as it relates to engi-
neering requirements and all field mis-
sion staff are urged to familiarize them-
selves with this change in requirements.
Since 27 September 2012 ESDC have
processed and issued 23 technical clear-
ance reports, 4 EPF case reviews and
carried out 5 budget and 5 project re-
views in support of UNGSC, UNMISS,
UNISFA, UNSOA, UNAMA, MI-
NUSTAH, MONUSCO, UNIFIL,
ONUCI, UNSCO, UNMIK and UNA-
MID.
ESDC encourages the missions to discuss
any concerns they may have in preparing
their case documents, before they are
submitted. There have already been a
number of missions that have taken this
approach with consequent gains in time
and quality. As discussed in the articles
on ESDC Products, the SharePoint data-
base is a useful resource for projects that
have been successfully implemented in
other missions and for which technical
documentation is in order and can be
adapted to suit similar conditions/
circumstances.
****
Paola De Mauro and Pamela Treveri
As the introduction of IPSAS ap-
proaches, the implementation of these
standards requires extensive information
on real estate assets of field missions to
be included in the first IPSAS compliant
opening balances. In order to achieve it,
all peacekeeping and political missions
have undertaken an extensive survey of
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 May 2013
self-constructed assets that were not
previously reported in the annual
financial statements.
To have a common understanding of the
progress and status of IPSAS
implementation, an IPSAS Workshop
IPSAS Team in Brindisi (from left): Mr. Monorop Pho UNOCI, Mr. Fasirul Huq UNMISS, Mrs.
Uchenna Onegibdo FBFD/NY, Mrs. Tosin Sofolane HQ/NY, Mr. Rinzin Wangchuk UNAMA, Mr.
Arsim Shala MINUSTAH, Ms. Paola De Mauro, ESDC/UNGSC
was organized by FBFD/DFS in the last
week of January 2013 in Nairobi.
From ESDC Paola De Mauro attended
the workshop, where in addition to other
topics, specific sessions on real estate
data collection, valuation methodology
and various templates were delivered to
an audience mostly comprising Chief
Finance and Property Management
Officers from different missions.
In September 2012, ESDC was engaged
by FBFD (Field Budget and Finance
Division) to take the lead in the
development of a real estate catalogue.
Together with counterparts, a detailed list
of Fixed Building and Infrastructure
Assets was sent to each Mission.
During the month of April, a team of
engineering experts from field missions
was assembled at UNGSC/UNLB with
ESDC to ensure a consistent and
centralized method of work is adopted. A
process of data cleansing is being applied
to the information received from the
missions to match it to the last version of
the catalogue and to determine the base
line costs of infrastructure assets and
fixed buildings. This exercise is
necessary to complete the standard cost
valuation methodology. ESDC would
like to thank MINUSTAH, UNAMA,
ONUCI and UNAMID for releasing their
staff in support of this exercise.
Development of the Real Estate
Catalogue, which is part of IPSAS
accounting for Property, Plant and
Equipment, is being carried out to
streamline and standardize the assets to
be reported, their terminology and the
units of measurement.
****
WATER AND
WASTE
MANAGEMENT
POLICY
DEVELOPMENT
Jacquelyn Amoko
Two faxes have recently been issued by
Mr. Rakesh Malik, OiC LSD/DFS,
relating to water and waste management
policy development for field missions;
2013-UNHQ-006758 and 2013-UNHQ-
008004 (4 and 23 April 2013, respectively).
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One of the critical motivations for the
water policy initiative relates to the
challenges that are associated with both
water supply, in the arid and semi-arid
climates (improving water resource
management), and the adoption of
unified, internationally accepted
wastewater management approaches.
Water is a crucial resource and has a
direct impact on all mission activities.
Wastewater management is now the
focus of very particular attention –
Missions were directed by Anthony
Banbury, ASG/DFS in fax 2013-UNHQ-
001613 in February 2013 to develop and
submit wastewater management action
plans „to ensure their facilities meet the
minimum required standards set out the
in fax of 7 June 2011‟ (2011-UNHQ-
010632). Plans were to be provided to
both LSD and GSC by 30 April 2013.
The development of the waste
management policy and guidelines
follows a recent OIOS audit report in
which one of the major concerns was
waste management procedures, both by
DFS and in the field.
LSD are ultimately responsible for
oversight and recognize that given the
wide range of circumstances under
which missions operate and how this
impacts both their water and waste
management procedures, a collaborative
approach is essential.
UNGSC, especially ESDC, will be
working closely with Olatunji Ayeni and
Russ Doran, both with Engineering
Section/LSD and the Environmental
Officer on this. Jacquelyn Amoko is the
focal point from ESDC for both Policy
Teams.
It is expected that workshops shall be
hosted by GSC during this policy
development period – a platform where
we can share how to tackle some very
pressing challenges and explore avenues
of further collaboration; ESDC look
forward to meeting counterparts from the
missions and to the opportunity to
engage in some lively discussions.
****
5
 May 2013
MODULARIZATION
Exploring Alternative
Options for Sustainable
Power Supply in UN camps
Giovanni Ferraro
ESDC, as part of the on-going
development of the 200 person camp for
modularization, engaged an energy
consultant (Tractbel) to carry out a
comprehensive feasibility study to
determine, based on actual needs and
usage, where efficiencies could be made
and thereby develop a sustainable energy
solution. The scope of the study included
the examination of state-of-the-art power
supply options and energy efficient
technologies taking into account
Data collection from six missions
modularity, reliability, sustainability,
ease of installation, operation and
maintenance and life cycle assessment
costs. Photovoltaic and wind turbines
were analysed in detail.
The study was based on actual data
collected from MINUSTAH,
MONUSCO, UNAMID, UNIFIL,
UNMIL and UNSOA. The consultant
used these figures to develop a
mathematical model, integrating the
received data with experience and
making reasonable assumptions to
"Green" technologies
validate it, capable of representing
different global variations in energy use.
Four representative climatic zones were
selected; hot-wet, hot-arid, temperate and
cold continental, thereby permitting the
distinction in energy consumption for
heating and cooling. Mission statistics
were used to define the price of
electricity, as provided by diesel
generators.
It was proven that it is necessary to mix
power supply technologies to guarantee
the right energy balance. Two
modifications to the conventional
(current and typical mission model
relying solely on generators) scenarios
were presented a mixed and an
optimized. The mixed design targets a
fuel dependency reduction in the
conventional approach by 50%.
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The optimized adopts the intense use of
advanced technologies, maximizing the
use of renewable energy to reduce fuel
dependency by 85%. It was further
verified that the use of photovoltaic (PV)
technology is ideal for presenting
acceptable cost and ROI (5 years for hot/
temperate climates and 10 years for
cold), robustness, easy and modular
installation and would suitably make use
of roof areas. Mini wind turbines showed
a limited po wer contribution,
considerably more space requirements in
comparison to PV and a ROI of 15 years.
Waste-to-energy, due to the small
amount of waste produced by 200
persons, was discarded as viable power
supply.
For the optimized design, an advanced
battery storage system (BESS) was
proposed as the core of a stand-alone
system. It would work as a flywheel bet-
ween the loads and generators, shifting
the renewable energy production from
availability periods to the power demand
time. The calculations showed that,
although very expensive, the technology
Missions' data analysis
could potentially allow the full
exploitation of the energy produced by a
larger PV system and reduce fuel
dependency by 85% and offer additional
environmental benefits. The main
drawback was the ROI period of 15
years for hot and temperate climates and
more then 20 for cold ones. This could
however be reduced to a more acceptable
time frame of 9 years due to a discounted
CAPEX if a scale factor of 5 is
considered; a 1000 person camp scenario.
6
 May 2013
The optimised solution was also recom-
mended as the more strategic. Energy
efficient solutions, some of which are
already in use in UN camps, such as the
use of outdoor LED lighting are incorpo-
rated in the optimised designs with im-
provements e.g. dimmer controls for
LED lamps, IE3 premium efficiency mo-
tors, etc.
A summary of the solutions screened and
recommendations is in the table below:
CATEGORY / TECHNOLOGY
Power supply
Thermodynamic CSP, Concentrated
solar Power technologies
Photovoltaic technologies
Wind turbines
Biomass power plants
Energy Storage
Hydrogen and fuel-cells
Flywheels
Advanced Batteries:
- Lithium-ion batteries;
- Hot batteries.
Standard Batteries:
- Lead acid batteries.
ENERGY PRODUCTION
FROM SOLID WASTE
Incineration
Gasification
ENERGY EFFICIENCY SOLUTIONS
CHP Cogenerative Diesel Generators:
Led lighting – Indoor
Led lighting – Outdoor
Solar/wind powered stand-alone poles
Building aspects
Solar Pumps
TRIGENERATION
Solar heating (domestic hot water)
Geothermal heat-pumps
General screening of technical solutions
Three Modular Camps in
Mogadishu, UNSOA
Christian Henze
Stadium Camp was planned as a 1000
person camp according to the approved
modularization 1A design, but finally
executed as an 850 person camp due to
operational changes made by AMISOM
in November 2012. The total cost for the
E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
construction of the camp at 1 January The enabling capacity consisted of com-
2013 was $10.3M. Completion time was mercial contractors using local systems
approximately 9 months with the project contracts for services. Key materials
commencing at the end of February were sourced from global systems con-
2012. At the beginning of the project, tracts. Shipments of construction materi-
delays were experienced due to security als arrived via Mombasa, Kenya.
Rank
C
A
B
C
C
C
A
C
C 1000 person camp at Stadium, Mogadishu
Military Academy Camp was planned
C problems in the area, consequently there as an 850 person camp. The footprint and
was a restriction of movement and many several installations were constructed in
B works could not start before May 2012. accordance with the initial plan of 850
B This project also included ground prepa- troops. However, due to significant se-
C ration. The enabling capacity consisted curity problems (the camp is located
of commercial contractors using local along the front-line) and several major
C
systems contracts for services. changes regarding AMISOM operational
A requirements (e.g. AMISOM troop
Key materials were sourced from global
C systems contracts according to modulari- movements to sectors), to-date many
B zation (prefabs, ablutions, generators, modules have been implemented for ap-
A defense barriers, etc.). Shipments of ma- proximately 400 troops. Cost as at 1
B terials for most of the construction ar- January 2013 is $3.3M. Completion time
rived via Mombasa, Kenya, and then was ca. 15 months, however most major
later in the project materials arrived di- works stopped in October 2012. The ena-
rectly at Mogadishu. bling capacity consisted of commercial
University Camp was similarly planned contractors using local systems contracts
and executed as a 1000 person camp ac-
cording to the modularization 1A design.
The total cost for construction of the
camp at 1 January 2013 was $11.3M.
Completion time was almost 20 months
due to delays in construction in 2011 and
2012 caused by security problems in the
area. In addition, this project included
hardwall construction (non-modular)
which added further time to the project. Sector 1 HQ Office in Mogadishu
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 May 2013
for services. Key materials were sourced
from global systems contracts and ship-
ments of materials arrived via Mombasa,
Kenya.
Conclusion
Between April 2011 and January 2013
UNSOA has implemented more than 10
modules, as part of modularization field
testing, in three camps in Mogadishu –
the modules are security (perimeter fenc-
ing, access points, high security shelters),
water supply, wastewater treatment, solid
waste disposal, energy, catering &
kitchen, office and residential accommo-
dation, maintenance (workshop), medical
and camp infrastructure (roads and drai-
nage).
The three camps demonstrate the success
of constructing modular camps even un-
der difficult conditions in an extremely
hostile environment. The pilot projects
in Mogadishu demonstrate the flexibility
and scalability of modular camps when
being implemented in the field with
changing requirements from AMISOM
due to security problems in the vicinity
restricting movement or due to new and
rapid operational requirements, like the
fluctuation of number of troops.
The planned timeframe for building 200
person modular camps (with hardwall
accommodation) is ca. 6 months scalable
to up to 24 months for the larger 1000
person camp, as presented to the Special
Committee on Peacekeeping Operations
(C34) in 2011. This timeframe takes into
consideration the most difficult environ-
ment and „worst case scenario‟. The three
UNSOA camps, much larger (850 &
1000 person) camps, were all constructed
in less than 24 months including delays.
Camp Costing Template
Giovanni Ferraro
ESDC is working on the development of
a camp costing template for the purpose
of analyzing and obtaining rough esti-
mates of camp costs according to differ-
ent layouts and configurations. Users can
select the modules and composition
needed for installation, check SDS
availability and decide whether to con-
sider market installation costs or not.
The costing template is set on the MS
Office Excel platform, consisting of se-
veral sheets linked to a main one, which
acts as a navigator. The template is fully
customized and offers the 200 person
camp bill of materials as an example and
typical reference. Prices are linked to two
main factors, that is to say manpower and
materials, and users can change their
values according to the market in which
the camp is to be located. Moreover it is
possible to directly insert prices already
known, by only selecting the installation
of items or by also considering the man-
power.
Modules are detailed in order to obtain as
much information as possible for the
estimation of the final camp cost.
The camp costing template is still a beta
version under testing and it will become
a useful support tool for all areas of lo-
gistics planning and to give clearer ideas
of camp installation requirements in the
field.
ESDC will utilize the results of this
analysis for the next generation of 200
person camp layouts and share the results
with the Missions.
Water Management
Jacquelyn Amoko
Questions: How many camps have water
meters installed? For how many do re-
cords exist? At the end of the day, how
many can actually confirm a water con-
sumption of 80L/p/d in line with UN
standards for bulk water?
Did you know that depending on the type
of showerhead installed, you could be
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E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
using 9.5 litres per minute (or even worse
13.3 – 21.6Lpm)? For a ten-minute run-
ning shower this usage alone would ex-
ceed the daily bulk water entitlement.
Might you be one of those who think a
ten-minute shower is too long? Have we
considered the time allowed for the water
to heat up? Where R. I. Spa ablutions are
installed (PD/C0140/09) or spare parts on
PD/C0227/11 are installed this has been
designed for 8Lpm.
In tackling the need for better accounta-
bility, sustainability in operations, energy
saving, wastewater compliance, to men-
tion but a few, designs forming the
Modularization 1C concept are focusing
on issues such as these; the realities vs.
practical means to make improvements.
In the water distribution module, the use
of low-flow aerators for all shower,
washbasin and kitchen faucets is ad-
vanced – these could reduce water use by
as much as 50%. The details of whether
to opt for aerating or non-aerating
showerheads will be given more detailed
consideration to ensure that advantages
that could be derived from use of less
water do not result in higher energy us-
age, for example. The ablution systems
contract will be developed to provide a
fit-for-purpose unit – easy to install but
8
 May 2013
also more efficient in energy and water
consumption.
Less water used translates to reduced
water abstraction, savings in water treat-
ment and transportation as well as less
wastewater generated – less O&M costs.
In addition – still just looking at the ablu-
tion units alone, ESDC engaged the ser-
vices of a consultant in November 2011
to substantiate the most feasible solutions
to achieve energy efficiencies in field
missions and one key recommendation is
for natural circulation solar water hea-
ters. This is a green, renewable heating
system that reduces greenhouse gases
emissions and contributes significantly to
UN sustainability initiatives. These are
also already available on PD/C0140/09.
You might be wondering where the catch
is; the cost perhaps? The typical cost of a
low flow showerhead (9.5Lpm) is less
than $10 per unit; low flow kitchen and
bathroom faucet aerators (8.35Lpm),
approximately $1.50 per unit. The energy
consultant reports that the payback time
for solar water heating is approximately
one year with negligible O&M costs.
The proposed systems contract will also
look to reduce water consumption of
existing fixtures through simple installa-
tions with minimal impact on perfor-
mance. It is critical to take advantage of
immediate benefits, even as long-term
solutions are sought.
When it comes to toilet and urinal flush-
ing, the amount of water used per flush
can be reduced by close to 63% by up-
grading an existing 13.2Lpf (litres per
flush) toilet to one of today‟s most effi-
cient 4.85Lpf models; by up to 87%
by upgrading a 3.8Lpf urinal to one of
today most efficient 0.47Lpf models (or
even waterless urinals). These potentially
high savings, simplicity and very justifia-
ble return on investment guarantee a win-
win solution. PD/C0227/11 already of-
fers improvements through dual-flush
cisterns using 1.5 and 4Lpf for light and
heavy uses, respectively. The urinals are
designed for 2Lpf which, although less
than the 3Lpf ones installed in the ablu-
tion, still present room for improvement.
Despite all the changes above and the
intended savings – there are some things
the field teams have to remain keen on
such as reducing waste through leakages,
rainwater harvesting, use of recycled
water lines, among others.
With the 1C modularization concept we
aim to substantiate, justify and share the
above and we look forward to your par-
ticipation.
****
MISSION SUPPORT
This year alone, ESDC has supported
three out-of-office assignments varying
in duration from one to six weeks, with
additional requests for Mali, Gabon and
Syria currently under consideration.
UNISFA, Abyei -
Engineering Assessment
Giovanni Ferraro
Security Council Resolution S/RES/1990
(2011) prompted the planning for the
establishment of an HQ in Abyei and 11
company operating bases (Abyei, Agok,
Athony, Diffra, Dumboloya, Goli,
Noong, Soheib, Tajalei, Un Khaer and
Un Khariet) to support troops and civil-
ian staff. Following Ms. Ameerah Haq‟s
(USG/DFS) visit to Abyei in November
2012, she requested that immediate ac-
tion be taken to address the challenges
faced by the mission staff especially the
difficult living conditions. An engineer-
ing assessment of the United Nations
Interim Security Force for Abyei
(UNISFA), in support of its ongoing star-
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E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
up and establishment, was therefore car-
ried out from 11 – 16 February 2013 by a
team headed by Scott Hastings (ES/
LSD), constituted by Olatunji Ayeni (ES/
LSD), Giovanni Ferraro (ESDC/GSC)
and Laith Haddadin (CE/UNISFA).
Giovanni Ferraro in Abyei
The team was also tasked with evaluating
all UNISFA sites and all GoS/GoSS ap-
proved Joint Border Monitoring Mecha-
nism (JBVMM) sites. Focus, due to both
staffing and scheduling constraints, was
on a broader approach to project manage-
ment with specific attention paid to con-
struction and operational challenges.
The team came to appreciate that none of
the six camps visited has complete engi-
neering work packages i.e. roads, accom-
modations, power, water supply, waste-
water systems. This is especially due to
the extreme seasonal weather conditions
as well as the complexities associated
with „black cotton‟ soil.
Black cotton soil is a term used for the
type of vertisols found in Eastern Africa;
these are soils in which there is a high
content of expansive clay, mainly
montmorillonite, and they are
characterized by massive alternate
shrinking and swelling. Contraction of
the soils in drier periods leads to the
formation of wide, deep cracks in which
surface materials accumulate. In the wet
season expansion leads to a swallowing
and mixing effect when the clay minerals
swell and the cracks close; this is why
these soils are said to be „self-mulching‟.
9
May 2013
These soil movements lead to extensive
subsidence which is detrimental to
infrastructure development in the
absence of comprehensive geotechnical
and structural design. Additional
constraints associated with these soil
conditions include their poor workability
and drainage. They are difficult to work,
being of very hard consistency when dry
and very plastic and sticky when wet;
workability is limited to very short
periods of medium/optimal water
content. Vertisols are also very poorly
draining which presents considerable
flooding risk in areas with high/intense
rainfall patterns.
There has been a direct delay impact on
both the movement of materials and per-
sonnel as well as on the actual construc-
tion works. Despite this the assessment
team found the camps in a functional
state, with interim solutions in place as
needed to support troop deployment and
changes in the concept of operations.
In differing levels of degrees between the
Abyei Headquarters
camps, the challenges were very similar;
shortage of heavy duty equipment, re-
liance on interim solutions, water short-
ages and most basic sanitary facilities
and overall conditions. The recommenda-
tions of the evaluation address these is-
sues in terms of strategies, operations,
transactional and tactical considerations
that can be adopted to improve these
conditions. The report also prioritizes
sanitation and waste management in
comparison to competing engineering
requirements.
The team asserted that value can be
added by, and encouraged, the use of
ESDC as a resource for the design of
mission facilities and infrastructure as
well as for the preparation of scope of
works and bills of quantities, etc. for any
work to be outsourced. The fact that a lot
of support can be provided remotely is a
significant advantage, removing a num-
ber of bottlenecks that are often time
consuming and ensuring that solutions
based on global lessons are shared.
Since October 2012 ESDC has been sup-
porting UNISFA, with considerable suc-
cess, in the preliminary design of 50 and
200 person camps for JBWMN project.
Together with the Chief Engineer, the
requirements were compared to the
modularized camp and specific modules
selected for adoption. The typical camp
layout drawing was adapted to suit the
specific site conditions and the quantities
of equipment available through SDS
checked. This has presented a key oppor-
tunity to test different modules as part of
the development of modularization.
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E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
UNSMIL, Tripoli -
Planning and Design
Danilo Convertini
Last year Danilo Convertini, a member
of the ESDC team, was on TDY to the
United Nations Support Mission in Libya
for four months.
Background
To facilitate the Mission start-up support
requirements, offices were initially estab-
lished in a private residence, Palm City,
located in Janzur a few kilometres from
the centre of Tripoli. This location was
Dani lo C on vert ini in Trip oli
chosen primarily for security reasons
given the political situation in the coun-
try at the time. In parallel with this, an-
other existing set of buildings, located
along Gurgi road and closer to down-
town, were selected for the future Mis-
sion Headquarters. The compound com-
prised two main two-storey buildings, a
conference hall and two small detached
office buildings. The initial assessment
of the buildings determined the urgent
need for important civil reconstruction
works in order to restore them to func-
tional office spaces. ESDC supported
UNSMIL with engineering planning and
design, thanks to the efforts of Christian
Henze, Abhinav Wakhloo and Karl
Stroebl. In continuation thereof Danilo
was deployed to UNSMIL.
Work plan
This assignment started on 15 June 2012
under the supervision of Karl Stroebl, the
Chief Engineer.
10
 May 2013
In light of the renovation works required,
it was necessary to carry out updated
surveys before implementation works.
These surveys aimed principally at veri-
fying stock availability for planning, de-
sign and space allocation to subsequently
update contracts for the refurbishment
works. With these surveys plans, sections
UNSM IL HQ B ui ldin g
and detailed drawings were drawn up for
the implementation of the works. The
accuracy and level of detail facilitated
the successful outcome for the project. It
was possible to prepare several architec-
tural solutions that were presented to the
COS and CMS, and used to improve the
working base for UNSMIL.
UNOWA, Dakar -
Engineering Assessment for
Political Mission
Danilo Convertini
During March and April 2013, ESDC
provided mission engineering support to
the UN Office for West Africa
(UNOWA) and the Cameroon-Nigeria
Mixed Commission (CNMC) through the
execution of two important projects in
the field.
For this purpose Danilo Convertini, Ar-
chitect from ESDC, was deployed to
Dakar for an initial period of one month
(04 March – 01 April), with an extension
required from the mission itself up to 15
April, due to the complexity of the as-
sessment to be carried out.
This deployment provided Danilo with
the chance to work on two different and
challenging projects at the same time.
The first one consisted of assisting
UNOWA with the assessment and other
engineering related services of building
for office purposes. This was basically
aimed at assessing the feasibility of the
former USAID Senegal premises and all
Bui ldin g a s s es s ed b y Dani lo C on vertini
for th e relocati on of UNOWA HQ offic es
related facilities and infrastructures to be
used in the light of the reallocation of the
current UNOWA HQ Offices in Dakar,
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E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
Senegal (Mission HQ with up to 80 UN
staff) according to UN requirements and
functions. For this purpose also an initial
overview of any modification and refur-
bishment works to be done was provided.
Sa mp le d ra win g of a d ema rca ti on pi lla r
The second project required assisting
CNMC in the planning and formulation
of the Scope of Works, Technical
Evaluation Criteria and other documenta-
tion requested for the launch of the pro-
curement process related to the construc-
tion of the demarcation pillars between
Cameroon and Nigeria, as well as other
aspects related to the technical control,
certification of works and quality assu-
rance for the construction of demarcation
pillars. This specific project has been
reopened (i.e. the first phase for the con-
struction of demarcation pillars had al-
ready begun in 2009) in order to imple-
ment the Judgment of the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) dated 10 October
2012, ruling on the Cameroon-Nigeria
boundary dispute. Through this judgment
the CNMC has been created, whose man-
date includes the demarcation of the land
border between the two countries of
about 2,000 kilometers. This project is a
very good example of a cross national
and diplomatic project, funded through
contributions of Cameroon, Nigeria, the
United Kingdom and the European Com-
mission through the UN-administered
Trust Fund for Special Political Missions
(SZA).
11
 May 2013
The importance of this project is also
highlighted in the words of Mohammed
Bello Adoke, Minister of Justice of Nige-
ria, who, according to the UNOWA re-
lease, led the Nigerian Delegation: “We
expect that these efforts, with the support
of the United Nations will result in food
security, water supply, education, en-
ergy, resettlement and the integration of
the populations”.
Special Representative Said Djinnit (centre) with
representatives of Nigeria and Cameroon. During
the 31st Meeting on demarcation of the boundary
between Nigeria and Cameroon on 26 April 2013
they decided to resume the pillar emplacement
project. Source: UNOWA mission website
The above mentioned activities were
successfully carried out, thanks to strong
knowledge of UN policies and require-
ments, expertise in assessing premises,
drafting Requests for Proposal and Tech-
nical Evaluation Criteria for the provi-
sion of engineering and construction ser-
vices. As highlighted by CMS UNOWA
in the thank you e-mail to Abhinav
Wahkloo, “the SOW for CNMC regar-
ding the pillars emplacement for the
Cameroon Nigeria border was success-
fully completed as requested. On
UNOWA side, different identified premi-
ses were visited, briefing to the Senior
Management (including the SRSG) were
held and useful recommendations were
provided concerning one of the premises
that was formerly occupied by USAID
which seems feasible to host an office
and meeting the security requirements.
At the completion of the TDY period, a
report was written on the said premises
with recommendations of some work to
be done, should UNOWA move there”.
Mrs. Veneranda Mukandoli-Jefferson,
Chief of Mission Support UNOWA/
CNMC thanked UNQH Chief Engineer
and the UNGSC team for their great sup-
port and involvement.
WHAT’S NEW AT
ESDC?
Welcome New Staff
Abhinav Wakhloo and Pamela Treveri
Since the last issue of the newsletter in
August 2012, ESDC has had the pleasure
to welcome three new members to the team;
building on the civil engineering, water and
architecture skills and competencies of
ESDC. In addition, Manuela Lupoli was
appointed as admin assistant in January. In
this column ESDC presents brief profiles of
each of them.
Suresh Ramadurgakar has worked as
head of Structural Design
Unit with Ministry of
Public Works, State of
Eritrea and also in vari-
ous Consulting Engineer-
ing Design Firms in
Malaysia and other de-
veloping countries. Since 2004, Suresh
has worked in the United Nations in field
missions in UNMIL and MONUSCO. In
his previous assignment, Suresh was
heading the Engineering Section at the
Entebbe Support Base, MONUSCO. In
this capacity, he was responsible for the
provision of innovative engineering solu-
tions for the Entebbe Support Base/
MONUSCO, RSC/DFS and eastern
DRC. He successfully planned and im-
plemented the ESB MONUSCO master
plan 2009, which included establishment
of the Regional Support center and
Training facilities at ESB. Suresh man-
aged and optimized all available engi-
neering resources and was successful in
achieving excellence in the provision of
engineering services in a cost-effective
manner. Additionally, he made a dy-
namic contribution to the Entebbe Sup-
port Base Administration.
Jacquelyn Amoko is a
Civil Engineer with a
masters of science from
the University of Leeds.
Upon completing her
BSc. Civil Engineering at
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E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
Makerere University in Uganda, she
worked as a Teaching Assistant in the
Faculty of Technology for three years;
carrying out research and feasibility stud-
ies in parallel with teaching the curricula
in engineering mathematics, statistics and
materials engineering. For four years
with Scott Wilson Ltd, now URS, in the
UK she was part of teams developing a
number of water engineering infrastruc-
ture projects of varying size and com-
plexity local to the UK and internation-
ally; some of which included Libya Uni-
versities and JAMALCO Mining Facility
as well as risk assessments for large in-
dustrial applications requiring critical
reliability for large volumes of water
from different treatment process for Foz
Do Brasil/Odebrecht, specifically the
Ecosteel and Comperj projects. With
DPKO Jacquelyn was a water and sanita-
tion engineer with both MINURCAT in
2010 and MINUSTAH from August
2011 till December 2012 where she
headed the WatSan Unit and was instru-
mental in the adoption of improved
wastewater management practices. After
MINUSTAH she has joined the ESDC
team, bringing a combination of consult-
ing and field experience, focusing on
Modularization.
Bhawana Shrestha graduated in Archi-
tecture from Tribhuvan
University, Nepal. She
started her professional
career in Nepal as an As-
sistant Architect in private
consulting firm, where
some major projects in-
cluded construction of a number of hos-
pitals, schools and the renovation of the
British Embassy in Nepal. She later
worked in development projects with
FAO and UNDP in close collaboration
with the Nepal government where she
provided comprehensive managerial,
logistical and administrative support for
all national and international UNVs. Her
peacekeeping work begins in DR Congo
with MONUC where she was responsible
for camp management for approximately
12
 May 2013 E SDC NE WSL E T T E R

2000 civilians and military. She was a previous release and to be included under combination of modules delivered, built,
focal point for transit camp management, the ESDC web portal, has been on hold installed and handed over by an enabler
which was particularly critical for staff for a while pending the migration of the as a functional facility, e.g. 200 person
support during the Bukavu crisis in 2004. engineering database to SharePoint 2010. camp. Police capsules are based on
From 2005 to 2012 as an Engineering modules, while, combinations are similar
Assistant in Haiti with MINUSTAH, she to service packages.
established a number of camps in differ-
ent regions especially following the 2010
earthquake; with roles spanning design,
logistic support, site supervision and
building maintenance. She joined ESDC
in November 2012 to provide engineer-
ing operations support for field missions
and to develop standardized design pack-
ages for the outsourcing of engineering
services. With that now accomplished, ESDC and
GIS at UNGSC are proceeding with the
Manuela Lupoli has a Master‟s degree
embedding of this application into Share-
in International Commu-
Point, which will be shown as an addi- The group has advanced the modular
nication, with specializa-
tional tab. police posts and the 100 Man County
tion in law and politics;
This collaboration will result in a web- Police Station. Members of the Working
upon completion of her
mapping application aimed at enhancing Group are presently engaged in the next
studies she spent some
accessibility to geospatial data in the GIS phase of the project, which lays emphasis
time abroad commanding
Centre and to documents stored in the on the basic or single capsules making up
her language skills. She
SharePoint Engineering Database. whole components (co-location office,
started her professional career in Italy in
police station, police training centre,
2008 as an Administrative Assistant and
etc.). Soon these individual capsules can
Supervisor of the Purchasing Department ESDC-SPC Cooperation be linked and added up easily to make
of a private engineering company dealing
with several projects abroad.
continues … combined/complete structures as per the
Paola De Mauro and Peter Benicsak demand of field missions (mainly, but
She first worked with UNLB in 2010 as
not exclusively, police components).
an Administrative Assistant with FSU.
Since January 2011, the Working Group After completion of the project, field
She then moved to Luxembourg in a
established by the ESDC and the Stand- missions can obtain standardized police
similar role at the European Parliament.
ing Police Capacity (SPC) continued to stations, living/office accommodations,
In addition to her mother tongue, Italian,
work closely to create a portfolio of es- training facilities, armoury, command
she speaks and writes fluently in English,
sential types of modular and standardized and control modules, based on their man-
French and German. She returned to Italy
solutions necessary to enhance the capac- dated and specific requirements, in a plug
to work as a legal Administrative Assis-
ity of police and law enforcement agen- and play method, within a reasonable
tant with an International Law Firm spe-
cies as rapidly as possible. timeframe and at optimized cost.
cializing in real estate in Italy.
The Working Group focuses on two con-
In January 2013 she re-joined UNLB/
cepts:
UNGSC as admin assistant for ESDC
(1) Modular design: Functional partition-
where her organizational and interper-
ing into discrete scalable, reusable cap-
sonal skills have made a big impact.
sules consisting of isolated, self-
contained functional elements;
ESDC-GIS Partnership (2) Model design: Representation of a
generic architecture, typically for local
Update
Pamela Treveri authorities as a basis of further functional
development.
Service packages, as defined by DFS
The implementation of the GIS mapping
Modularization Project, are unique de- *****
application, which was mentioned in a
liverables which consist of a module or
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May 2013 E SDC NE WSL E T T E R

body responsible for all facilities re-

Innovation: Veragon V12 WORKSHOPS & quired by the Swedish Armed Forces,
What? PRESENTATIONS
Field Water Plant Carlo Perrucci
Creates water by utilising the moisture in
the air – an inexhaustible source of water
As part of the development of modulari-
Ensures a production of over 1200Lpd
Integrated with packaging in bio-plastic zation, ESDC receives requests from
bags – up to 900 packs per hour external parties, such as governments,
interested in the design assumptions,
How?
Water vapour present in air passes
priorities, layouts and concepts being
through an air filter C o n d en s a - developed under the Global Field Sup-
tion Water collects in a tank port Strategy. Through this process of
Sterilised by ozone every 45 mutual sharing, ESDC builds on its
minutes Mineralization knowledge and is able, through compara-
UV disinfection Drinking Water
tive analysis, to test a number of assump-
tions on the basis that different countries,
and therefore military, associate priorities
differently; something that through
modularization ESDC aims to create a
balance for while maintaining critical
standards for safety and reliability.
Sweden Delegation
The delegation comprised Mr. Anders
Persson (Head of Camp Unit, Fortifika-
tionsverket) and Mr. Per-Erik Valterso-
nand was hosted by ESDC in December
Where? 2012 for a two-day presentation. The
Temperature: 15 - 45°C team work for the Swedish Fortifications
Relative humidity: 20 - 100%
Agency (FORTV) that is government
Dimensions: 211cm (L) x 118cm (W) x
128cm (H) - Weight: 1000kg
both locally and abroad. FORTV sup-
ports both facilities management as well
as a development program aiming to im-
prove future Swedish camps.
Christian Henze had initiated discussions
with them in spring 2012 and peeked
their interest in the UN camp system and
related development work being carried
out in ESDC.
Giovanni Ferraro presented the 200
person camp configurations, and the bal-
listic test for the modified security shelter
(High Security Shelter Project, ESDC
Newsletter Vol. 6, January 2012).
The visitors similarly shared their experi-
ence with camp planning. They are de-
signing camps Swedish camp concepts
and are preparing a handbook, which
they are willing to share in due course.
What was apparent from the discussions
was that modularization is more ad-
vanced in its development. Mr. Persson,
the Project Manager, wrote in this thank
you email to Abhinav Wakhloo, “Your
presentations were interesting and
brought fresh ideas to our work. Your
holistic perspective will be an important
part and contribute to our ongoing

Benefits
Provides chilled potable water without
adding stress to existing water resources.
Capable of deployment anywhere, sig-
nificantly reducing CO2 emissions aris-
ing from bottling, transportation, stor-
age, distribution and disposal of bottled
water.
Maintenance is simple and inexpensive –
cleaned with compressed air from the air
filter and minerals for the water filter
need to be added twice a year.

Cost
Ca. €40, 000
Water produced and packaged at
<$0.02 (energy, packaging and annual
maintenance included)

Who is using it?

World Food Programme
Additional resources: www.veragon.com
Meeting between the Swedish Delegation and ESDC staff

 please consider the environment before printing this newsletter 14

 May 2013
work…” He also said, “We are still im-
pressed by the scope of work you are
conducting.”
They were particularly able to share their
experience with the development of am-
munitions storage; they suggested that
based on risk assessments relating to the
magnitude of damage in the event of an
explosion, the ESDC design team should
reconsider the alignment of all such con-
tainers to minimise the impact.
The original modularization concepts for
200 persons had these containers side by
side, they have since been revised in the
1C proposal with the containers offset
and angled at 45°.
Japan Delegation
On 5 April 2013, Mr. Masatoshi Sugiura,
Director International Peace Cooperation
Division Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Japan visited
UNGSC.
Abhinav Wakhloo presenting ESDC activities to
Mr. Masatoshi Sugiura
As part of the visit the Minister was
given a detailed briefing on the different
activities carried out within ESDC, and
in particular about modularization, and
the typical design of the modular 50 per-
son, 200 person and 1000 person military
camps.
Camp Building Workshop,
Taranto
GSC was requested to take part in a
NATO-Russia Council Camp Building
workshop from 26 – 27 March 2013 held
in Taranto; the ESDC team was repre-
sented by Giovanni Ferraro and Carlo
Perrucci and Ezio Capriola, Chief of Ma-
terial Handling Equipment, was also in
attendance.
The workshop saw the participation of
several actors in the field, namely repre-
sentatives of NATO IS, Czech Republic,
Germany, Italy, Russia, United King-
dom, ACO (Allied Command Opera-
tions, MILENG COE (Military Engineer-
ing Centre of Excellence), NSPA SOC
(NATO Support Agency - Southern Op-
erational Centre) and UNGSC.
The purpose of the workshop was to
Debating solutions with NATO colleagues
share information regarding:
the rapid deployment of camps
the commonality of camp building and
operational procedures
the possibilities to collaborate during
camp establishment
the possibilities of sharing various ser-
vices between NATO and the Russian
Federation
ESDC had the opportunity to compare
theories and different solutions and
stressed the importance of developing
and implementing camp models using
renewable energy sources e.g. solar en-
ergy; a direction that is already being
taken as part of the development of
modularized camps. What was evident
during the workshop was that there is a
collective movement in the same direc-
tion, with focus on fundamental elements
Participants at the Camp Building Workshop
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E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
of:
 time
 attention to the environment
 the need to apply eco-friendly solu-
tions, especially in the management of
waste
 better evaluation of costs and resources
during the camp establishment phase
The key conclusion emerging from the
workshop was the importance of provid-
ing excellent and cost effective projects,
meeting the needs of the end-users,
through closer cooperation between engi-
neers and logisticians through the con-
cept design, development and implemen-
tation phases and also taking into consid-
eration the life cycle requirements. Only
through such integration can we guaran-
tee the best solutions in terms of effec-
tiveness and capable of meeting all de-
sign parameters.
Presentation to Italian Navy in
San Vito
On 12 February 2013 Andres Gomez-
Jimenez successfully delivered a
screened presentation about ESDC's ac-
tivities and projects to Junior Officers of
the Landing Forces at Caserma Carlotto
- Reggimento San Marco base of the
Italian Navy in San Vito. The presenta-
tion was part of a training to officers eli-
gible for promotion that included brief-
ings on UN Operations and in particular
on the activities of the Logistics Base in
support of Peacekeeping. Andres was
part of a small team of representatives
sent from GSC for this purpose.
DefenCell - Applications
From 14 – 15 January 2013, ESDC took
part in Defencell training to appreciate
the developments made by the manufac-
turer over the last four years, since the
establishment of systems contract
PD/C0119/09.
Defencell is a modular protection and
mconstruction system used for a wide
variety of applications construction sys-
tem used for a wide variety of applica-
tions ranging from specialist ones , e.g.
15
 May 2013
blast mitigation to general ones e.g. com-
partmentalisation.
With this system it is possible to put up
barriers and structures of the desired
height, width and length, simply by using
additional product sections. The material
used is a high performance non-woven
geotextile fabric, bounded together in
different forms to produce cells – called
geocells – which can be filled with dif-
ferent kinds of materials sand, stones,
earth, ice) according to what is available
DefenCell T3
in the field. The fabric is lightweight yet
very strong, durable and UV resistant.
Moreover the cellular structure offers a
considerable strength and built-in redun-
dancy so that if one cell is damaged the
one behind will keep on providing pro-
tection and stability to the structure as a
From left: Abhinav Wakhloo, Jeremy Milton (trainer), Giovanni Ferraro, Pamela Treveri, Danilo Convertini,
Andres Gomez-Jimenez during Ground Stabilization Installation
whole. The training demonstrated the
benefits and the versatility of Defencells,
some of which are shared here.
Military Applications and Security: De-
fenCell offers a lightweight and deploy-
DefenCell LITE 3.6 Kg
able solution for expeditionary opera-
tions, and for the protection of perimeter,
structures, and personnel, in the form of
protective walls, compartmentalization,
entry control points, vehicle barriers and
inspection lanes, as well as temporary or
permanent barriers.
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E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
Military Logistics: The modular packa-
ging reduces transport costs, cuts supply
chain resources and is up to ten times
lighter and five times more compact than
gabions. All components are man porta-
ble and easily deployable to remote and
hostile locations.
Environmental and Flood Applications:
An environmentally neutral and com-
pletely non-metallic product, found to be
ideal for ground stabilization, erosion
control, bank reinforcement and various
water protection applications.
****
ESDC PRODUCTS
Pamela Treveri
SharePoint
ESDC is pleased to announce the launch
of the new release of the Engineering on-
line database, with enhanced features; an
informative fax, reference number 2012-
ESDC-000027, was sent on December
14, 2012, with subject: “Launch of the
Engineering on-line database new re-
lease” and currently all lists of users sub-
mitted from the missions have been
briefed, notified and provided with ac-
cess to the new platform.
16
 May 2013
The Engineering on-line database conti-
nues to work as a centralized resource of
technical information in the field of En-
gineering and Architecture. It is develo-
ped on Microsoft SharePoint 2010 plat-
form and currently consists of 40 GB of
reference data, counting 270 users con-
nected from the field missions and HQ.
The “About” Section
The Engineering on-line database pro-
vides a platform for the exchange of in-
formation on the following subjects:
- Design Packages, SOPs, Manuals
-Global Engineering Operations
(Technically Reviewed Projects, Ex Post
facto Cases, etc.)
- Engineering Systems Contracts
- ESDC Documents and Planning Tools
- Engineering SDS Catalogue
The Engineering on-line database pro-
vides a common platform, where mission
Engineers can interact and be in contact
with other Engineers, browse through
reference data before starting a new pro-
ject and upload files/projects useful for
the engineering community.
This new release of the Engineering on-
line database offers a user friendly inter-
face that enables a more direct access to
the contents and also introduces new
features e.g. “blog” designed to facilitate
the interaction and information exchange
related to a particular subject area in the
form of text, images, links and other me-
dia such as videos.
Standards Library
The Standards Library in SharePoint
provides a broad collection of interna-
tional standards; ASTM, BS, Eurocodes,
IEC, ISO and most recently NFPA.
ESDC encourages all technical personnel
to access and make full use of the library
to improve the quality of their work and
to remain up-to-date with internationally
recognized engineering standards and
practice; there is no limit to the number
of users accessing the database.
The Standard Library Section
Please address all requests for access,
any comments and/or suggestions, via
email, to esdc@un.org.
Groove
The Microsoft Groove application is
completely different, in function and
form, from the SharePoint database one;
it is hoped that the subsequent explana-
tion will help all users to understand this
more clearly.
Groove's core concept is the “shared
workspace”, which is meant to hold all
digital information to be shared related to
any task, which could vary from a spe-
cific project to a broad discussion.
Groove users can create workspaces, add
documents, and invite other Groove
members to a workspace. A user that
responds to an invitation is made an ac-
tive member of that workspace. Each
member has a privately editable copy of
the workspace. Users interact and col-
laborate in the common workspace which
is a private virtual location.
Each workspace is populated with only
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E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
those members who have a need to know
that information and who are invited to
join that workspace by the manager. No-
body else has access to it and even the
roles and permissions allowed to each
member can be set by the workspace
manager.
All members in a workspace have all
information automatically synchronized
and stored disregarding the availability of
a web connection. Once posted, you can
be assured that all members will get that
data.
ESDC would like to stress the potential
importance of such platform, it brings
people together into a real-time virtual
world, just like being in the same room.
ESDC is in the process of reactivating all
previous, and setting up new, workspaces
on Groove. All Chief Engineers are re-
quested to nominate the names of engi-
neers for this exercise. These details
should be sent by email to esdc@un.org
(subject: Groove Access – Nominees).
****
MISSION IN FOCUS
UNSOA
Abhinav Wakhloo
This is the newest column of the ESDC
newsletter, and still a work in progress,
introduced to cover Engineering Sections
of different missions in turn, their
achievements, challenges, lessons
learned, best practice, or any other dis-
cussion of their choice. It is envisaged
that this will provide an opportunity to
get better acquainted as a global engi-
neering team.
At the same time ESDC would like to
give Chief Engineers recognition for the
pressures and demands they deal with on
a day-to-day basis; uncertainties, shor-
tages, high risks, crises are part and par-
cel of their ToRs.
From this issue of the newsletter, and
onwards, a Chief Engineer shall be re-
quested at random to make a submis-
sion..
17
 May 2013
UNSOA Chief Engineer: Herbert
Pechek graduated
with a Master‟s
Degree in Con-
struction Manage-
ment from the
University of
Technology in
Vienna, Austria.
He also holds a degree in Mechanical
Engineering and attended a Masters pro-
gram at the City College of New York
City. After several years in the private
sector working as a structural design en-
gineer, project manager and planning
engineer in Vienna and New York City,
he started his UN career with an assign-
ment as Associate Engineer to UNTAET
(East Timor) in 2000. Subsequently he
worked in Kosovo (UNMIK), Haiti
(MINUSTAH) and New York (LSD). He
has been Chief Engineer with UNSOA
since August 2010. He has participated in
the establishment and continues in the
implementation of a variety of new con-
cepts and approaches in peacekeeping
including the creation of ESDC
(2007/08), the start-up of GFSS modu-
larization (2009), remote project manage-
ment (2010) and third party project over-
sight (2012).
UNSOA Engineering Contract Manage-
ment: Almost all engineering services
required to support the mission mandate
are provided through outsourcing. Engi-
neering Section provides all these ser-
vices through task order (TO) manage-
ment.
Planning and Design Activities: In sup-
port of the above approach to service
delivery, the Planning and Design Unit
has prepared various SORs, SOWs,
BoQs, cost estimates, drawings and com-
plete design packages, including techni-
cal evaluation criteria for engineering
projects, and is collaborating with Pro-
curement Section and the Regional Pro-
curement Office through the bidding and
contract award process.
ES/UNSOA works closely with ESDC to
obtain technical clearances for its larger
projects, a number of which are in excess
of $1M. All design packages, including
reference data, are available on Share-
Point, the engineering database managed
by ESDC.
*****
OUTLOOK
The Young Professional
Program
Eva Jansen, OHRM/DM/UNHQ
Participation
The young professionals programme
(YPP) is a recruitment initiative for both
potential and existing members of staff
of the United Nations; as such recruit-
ment includes external candidates as well
as existing general and field service staff.
A member of staff is eligible to partici-
pate in the young professionals pro-
gramme as an external candidate if they;
 hold at least a first-level university
degree
 speak either English and/or French
fluently
 are a national of a participating country
 are 32 or younger by the end of the
year they are making the application
This is referred to as G to N.
Alternatively, as a staff member, if you
do not meet the criteria above, you can
still participate in the examination if you
meet the following criteria:
 you have five years of continuous ser-
vice in the Secretariat
 you have fully successful performance
in the last two performance appraisals
 you have a United Nations appoint-
ment valid until at least six months after
the date of the examination
 you meet the minimum educational
criteria for the job family you are inter-
ested in applying for
This is referred to as G to P.
Key Application Tips:
Apply in inspira https://inspira.un.org;
make sure to apply through the correct
link (G to P or G to N)
Refer to the education eligibility re-
quirements for the job family you are
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E SDC NE WSL E T T E R
applying for
Choose the correct combination of
“Main Course of Study” and “Field of
Study”
Refrain from entering “Other” in these
two fields
The “Specialization” field will not be
considered in the screening process
The Written Exam & Interview
The written examination consists of:
-The General Paper - the same for all job
families, tests knowledge of international
affairs and drafting abilities. During the
coming years, this part might change.
-The Specialized Paper - tests your sub-
stantive job knowledge and your analyti-
cal thinking.
If you are successful, you are then in-
vited for a competency-based interview.
In 2012, there were more than 41,000
applicants, and more than 4,500 candi-
dates sat for the exam. Out of those,
about 10 to 50 candidates per job family
end up invited for interviews. Therefore
do take the time to prepare yourself
properly for the exam!
Architecture was one of the job families
in 2012. 459 candidates from all over the
world sat for the exam, which included
drawing. 21 of them made it through the
preliminaries and have been invited for
interviews planned to take place at the
end of May 2013. Architects and engi-
neers from various offices and duty sta-
tions were appointed to form the
"Specialized Board in Architecture".
They assessed the candidates and pro-
posed the best of the best to the Central
Examinations Board to be invited for the
oral part of the exam. The board will also
serve as the Panel during these inter-
views; Abhinav Wakhloo is on the
board.
18