UN staff in peacekeeping missions serve as COE inspectors, verifying that the member states' equipment and the services they provide meet the standards required for reimbursement.
The COE System was approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996 to simplify the means by which countries are reimbursed for providing equipment, self sustainment services, and personnel to peacekeeping missions.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is the contract signed by representatives of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the contributing country's permanent mission to the UN which specifies the number of personnel and exact amount and type of equipment and self-sustainment services which the contributing country will be expected to provide to the peacekeeping mission and for which it will be financially reimbursed.
Rates of reimbursement are generic, based on “fair market value” as determined by working groups of the General Assembly.
Currently there are over 300 MOU covering units deployed to 11 peacekeeping missions, representing over 2 billion US dollars in troop, equipment, and self-sustainment costs annually.