Welcome to the United Nations

UN Police Selection and Recruitment - At a Glance

United Nations Police consists of national, serving police officers that are seconded or loaned by their governments to the United Nations.

The following pages explain the career benefits, recruitment initiatives and procedures for national police officers. If you are a not a serving national police officer, interested to be nominated by your government, please visit the UN careers page, which advertises all civilian vacancies.

Outline of page

The personnel working for the United Nations are its most important resource. Therefore, the Police Division in the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions, Department of Peace Operations, works closely with Member States to recruit experienced and qualified police officers for United Nations peace operations.

What happens before recruitment?

The United Nations Security Council mandates United Nations peace operations, including the policing tasks. The police concept of operations is developed from the mandate and includes proposed expertise and required staffing.  

Vacancy announcements are issued to the Permanent Mission of Member States for seconded officers or through the UN Careers portal, if civilian experts are recruited. The process of how an operation is deployed is available in more detail here.

 
To find out more about the job categories of United Nations police officers, read the information for candidates page.