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Both approaches in mediation support have their relevance and value added. As such, theycan be reconciled and interlinked. This has been realised by the MSU which almost threeyears after its inception and with a firmly established identity has become self-confidentenough that there also seems to be a more pragmatic approach from the MSU which hasmore realistic expectations regarding the second SBT. Hence, as we will point out, the initialpilot project of the SBT has the potential to develop into a sustainable resource. Thissituation creates a solid basis to develop a meaningful realistic relationship based upon thevalue added between the two parties.4.2 Relevance of the MSU SBTIn this sub-chapter we look at the relevance of the MSU SBT approach. As relevance is avery subjective factor, we are asking the following four questions:How relevant is the SBT for the field missions/mediation teams?How relevant is the SBT for the mediation/peace process?How relevant is the SBT for the UNDPA/MSU?How relevant is SBT for the development of a conceptual approach to mediationsupport, including a gender-sensitive approach?Relevance of the SBT for the Field Missions/Mediation TeamsDespite the fact that the SBT is a very new tool within the UN, several field missions haverequested its services. UNDPA field missions were the most important clients of the SBT.Besides the UNDPA (regional divisions and decolonialisation unit), there is an impressiveaccount of other client agencies requesting the services of the SBT as follows: UNDP,DPKO, UNIFEM (now UN Women), UN Office in West Africa (UNOWA), UN Regional Centrefor Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), African Union (AU), Southern AfricanDevelopment Community (SADC), Central African States Economic Community (ECCAS),Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), City of The Hague, two ForeignMinistries, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Centre), Chatham House and the CarterCenter.In several cases, field missions requested the services of the SBT on more than oneoccasion (for example, the UN field missions in Cyprus, Nepal, Darfur, Djibouti and CentralAsia) and in a more sustained fashion.Amongst the reasons given by our interviewees regarding why and how the SBT services arerelevant to the field missions, we received the following explanations:The SBT matches the requested expertise (see Box 3).The quick deployment within 72 hours which allows for responding to an urgentrequest in a timely manner.The SBT is fully funded, no additional and time-consuming fund-raising is requested.The SBT experts have the right profile, not too high-ranking (as this would pose athreat to the envoys, SRSGs), but sufficient thematic expertise (to impress themediator).The field missions need experts who could give independent advice. There is anadvantage if mediation support advisors are not tied to the UN system and able toconsider innovative advice outside UN frameworks. They will not have to takedecisions.SBT members could take risks whereby envoys or SRSG tend to be overly cautious.12