14.10.2014
Promotion of the study "The Position of Women in the Armed Forces in the Western Balkans"
Promotion of the study "The Position of Women in the Armed Forces in the Western Balkans", published by the UNDP/SEESAC office in Belgrade, with assistance in making from the Ministry of Defence, was held today, at the Gala Hall of the Central Military Club of Serbia.The study is the result of mutual work of the Ministries of Defence in the region of western Balkans, in the scope of the project “Supporting integration of gender equality principles in the reform of the security sector in western Balkans”.
Zoran Djordjevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence and the President of the Political Association of the Government of Serbia for implementing the National Action Plan (NAP) spoke about the dedication of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Serbia to implementation of NAP for application of the Resolution 1325 of the UN Security Council “Women, Peace and Security” in Serbia and the work of institutional Government bodies for the implementation of the action plan.
He said that gender equality means equal representation of women and men in all segments of public and private life and thorough rights
and values of every society.- Based on the data analysis, we can conclude that the percentage of female employees in the security sector has significantly increased in the period of application of NAP. Presence of women in the year of signing NAP – in 2010 was 26 percent, and three years later, it was 32.51 percent. I would like to point out the promotion of the military profession, confirmed by the increased interest of women for studies at the Military Academy and the Faculty of Medicine of the Military Medical Academy. In the school year 2014/2015, 30 percent of all candidates who applied for the Military Grammar School were girls – State Secretary pointed out, stressing the commitment of the Ministry of Defence to reach the goals through application of NAP.
On behalf of the publisher of the study, Irena Vojackova-Sollorano, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia addressed the conference, stressing the importance of the fact that the study was done on a regional level. She added that UNDP will continue supporting the efforts of the regional ministries in integration of the gender equality principles into the defence sector.Representative of UNDP/SEESAC in Belgrade Bojana Balon said that the study was done with a goal to make a regional overview of statistic data and practices in the field of gender equality in defence systems of countries of the western Balkans. The office has provided very important support to the Ministry of Defence of Serbia in several fields, among which the cooperation in the scope of realization of the project “Supporting integration of gender equality principles in the reform of the security sector in western Balkans” particularly stands out. This project has been implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia since 2012.
Jovanka Saranovic, PhD, Director of the Institute for Strategic Research and Adviser of Minister of Defence for Gender Equality spoke about the contents of the study, results and significance of the research conducted in regional ministries of defence. According to her, the idea of publishing the study is a proof of regional approach to implementation of Resolution 1325.
- Mutual interest has been emphasized – achieving cooperation, trust, security and stability. The study is rich in statistic data which are a good foundation for formulating achievements and progress on a regional level, and for future researches. Today, women comprise between 5.69 and 8.90 percent of members of armed forces. In Serbia, we have a relatively optimal presence of women in civilian and professional soldier categories. In the future, we can expect a mild increase in categories of officers and noncommissioned officers. In the region, Serbia has the highest percentage of women in multinational operations – the Director of the Institute said.
The study presents comparable data on presence of women in armed forces of countries in the western Balkans, politics and practice of the ministries of defence and the armed forces about attracting and employing women, the advancement of their careers, education and training, participation in peacekeeping missions and politics and practices from the field of achieving gender equality in armed forces. It represents a proof of transparency of the work of the Ministry of Defence and of the dedication to the realization of the tasks related to applying the policy of equal possibilities by implementing gender perspective in politics and plans of Resolution 1325 of the UN Security Council.