Quick-impact projects

Quick-impact projects (QIPs) are activities of a mission intended to build confidence in a mission and its mandate. Inclusion of funding for QIPs in peacekeeping mission budgets was first proposed in the Brahimi report.

Several agencies within United Nations country teams also implement QIPs. In some, the use of QIPs predates the introduction of QIPs to United Nations peacekeeping, as in the case of UNHCR.

Legislative history
The General Assembly, in section XVIII of its resolution 61/276 of 29 June 2007, provided the following guidance on the use of QIPs:

4. Recognizes that, in accordance with the purpose of such projects, that is, that they be used by United Nations peacekeeping operations to establish and build confidence in individual missions, their mandates and  the  peace  process, thereby improving  the  environment  for  effective mandate implementation, they should be executed by the missions to the extent possible and that, in instances when they are implemented by partners, steps should be taken to ensure that the missions are given due recognition;

5. Emphasizes that quick-impact projects should be implemented with minimal or  no  overhead  charges  in  order  to  ensure  that  the  maximum  amount  is  spent for the direct benefit of the local population;

6. Recognizes that funding for quick-impact projects for the third year of a mission and  beyond  may  be  requested  if  there  is  a  requirement  for  confidence-building activities, in which case a needs assessment should be conducted;

7. Emphasizes  the   importance   of   coordination   with   humanitarian   and   development partners in order to avoid duplication and overlap of activities between missions and humanitarian and development partners in the field;

8. Stresses that  mission  budgets  allocated  for  quick-impact  projects  should  not  be  used  to  finance  humanitarian  and  development  activities  already  being  carried out by United Nations agencies or other international organizations;

During the 67th session, concern over the continued request for QIP funding in UNMIK, a mission established 14 years earlier, led the General Assembly to reject the requested funds as QIPs funding but approved it under a separate "confidence-building projects" line item.

Secretariat policy
In response to the request for the Secretariat to issue a QIP policy in 60/266 of 30 June 2006 and on the basis of the guidance provided in resolution 61/276, DPKO and DFS issued a policy on QIPs that established a maximum ceiling of $25,000 for each project and a timeline for implementation of three months. Following a 2011 lessons-learned exercise, a revised policy was issued in 2013 that doubled both the threshold and the maximum ceiling for projects. The policy specified that funding for QIPs may constitute up to 1 per-cent of the mission budget and should only be included in the budget request for the start-up phase and the first two years of a mission. Requests for the third year and beyond should only be made if there is a requirement for confidence-building activities. The most recent QIP policy and guidelines were issued in 2017.

In peacekeeping missions, QIPs are generally managed by civil affairs components. Guidelines for the planning and management of QIPs is included in the DPKO–DFS Civil Affairs Handbook, issued in 2012.

Funding levels
The amounts for QIPs approved by the General Assembly for each financial period are summarized in the summary table of approved resources for peacekeeping operations issued by the Secretariat.

Oversight body recommendations
The Office of Internal Oversight Services occasionally performs audits of QIPs in individual missions. The resulting audit reports are published on the OIOS website.

The Board of Auditors, in its annual report on peacekeeping operations, occasionally focuses on QIPs. In its report for the 2014/15 financial period identified delays in the selection and approval of projects, delay in the release of funds, delay in the execution and completion of projects and inadequate monitoring and review, which prompted an internal review of QIPs management and the development of mission-specific standard operating procedures.

Documents

 * 2017.16 DPKO–DFS Policy on Quick Impact Projects
 * 2017.17 DPKO–DFS Guidelines on Quick Impact Projects
 * 2012.02 DPKO–DFS Civil Affairs Handbook