Letters of assist refers to a contractual document issued by the United Nations (UN) to a government authorizing it to provide goods or services to a peacekeeping or other UN operation.
A contractual document issued by the United Nations (UN) to a government authorizing it to provide goods or services to a peacekeeping operation; the UN agrees either to purchase the goods or services or authorizes the government to supply them subject to reimbursement by the UN.
A letter of assist typically details specifically what is to be provided by the contributing government and establishes a funding limit that cannot be exceeded.
[1] LOAs are often used in conjunction with Contingent Owned Equipment, an important aspect of many UN operations, peacekeeping or police.
As the official UN website puts it: As of 30 April 2013, the UN was liable for $64 million in relation to Letters of Assist, out of a total of $810 million then owed to Member States with regards as to outstanding payments for Peacekeeping and/or Policing operations.