31.03.2010.

The role of women in building the security system

Regarding the issuance of Recommendations for development of the National Action Plan for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, a press conference has been held in the House of the Serbian Armed Forces today. The speakers were Minister of Defence Dragan Sutanovac, Sonja Licht, President of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence and Marijana Pajvancic, Professor of the Law Faculty in Novi Sad.

Presenting the Recommendations to the Serbian Minister of Defence, Sonja Licht said that the implementation of Resolution 1325 is a remarkable step in thinking and different setting of security system throughout the world. The Resolution 1325 was adopted by the Security Council in 2000 and has a binding character for all the members of the United Nations. Its implementation has been slow – so far it has been implemented in some twenty countries of almost 200 that exist.

Serbia has the opportunity to be the first post-communist countries in the region with such a Resolution. It is important that the Ministry of Defence and other structures in the society recognized the importance of women in all segments of security. Even before this, the Ministry of Defence has opened its doors to women, first of all in the Military Academy, Sonja Licht said among other things.

- This is one more step forward for Serbia in its EU integration process and inclusion in the most advanced global affairs. Without equality for over 50 percent of the population – women – we cannot claim to belong to the circle of countries that provide equal opportunities and rights for all - Sonja Licht said. This is to fulfil the constitutional obligation of the state to secure equal rights for men and women in all affairs of state and society - she added.

- The fact is that in Serbia jobs in the military have been traditionally performed by men, but it is also the fact that we recognized the possibility for women to perform it. At the Military Academy today we have 105 cadets, and the next year the first generation of women Second Lieutenants is to complete the their education at the Academy. We are very proud of this. Despite our wish to have as many women as possible in our system, that number is, unfortunately, still relatively low. We currently have about 330 women in uniform, and 105 cadets, which is about 2.6 per cent – said Minister Sutanovac.

The Defence Minister added that in the entire defence system, the situation is much better, since there are approximately 5800 member of female sex, which is 46.80 percent of all members of the system. Ministry of Defence gave its contribution to the implementation of the Resolution and it is our wish to continue that way. In addition, 25 percent of the applicants at the Military Academy are women. It is a record high number which indicates that women recognize the opportunity and their prospects in the

Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces – the Minister said, stressing that in the future the Ministry plans to complete drafting the final version of the National Action Plan, and other activities related to its implementation, and that at this moment the Ministry has capacities and capabilities to be a leader in the system, state and region in that field.

Asked whether it would be expensive, Minister Sutanovac replied that there are no exclusive costs for employing women in the Armed Forces.

Professor Pajvancic presented the contents of the Action Plan for implementation of the resolution, the goals set forth in it, and the complete project.

NAP systematizes activities aimed at creating an environment which would allow both men and women equal access to the sectors of defence and security and equal opportunities to be creators and actors of social policies in these sectors, as well as raising the visibility of women in them, and conditions for increasing their engagement in the process of reform of that part of the society.

As goals, NAP sets out of increased participation and influence of women in the decision-making process regarding security issues and equal participation of women in the process of making and building peace and peace support operations.

The goal is also ensuring satisfactory level of human security and effective protection of women and girls from all forms of discrimination, violations of human rights and gender based violence. Improving conditions for employment and advancement of women in greater numbers in the security sector, particularly in the operational part, is also recognized as a goal of NAP.

On the initiative of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence the idea has been launched to draft a National Action Plan aimed at increasing the visibility of women in the security sector, increasing of their engagement in the peace processes, as well as improvement of the implementation of gender equality.

Ministry of Defence has actively participated in all phases of work on the Recommendations for drafting a National Action Plan.

Project for drafting guidelines for writing a National Action Plan for the implementation of Resolution 1325 in Serbia was supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway, UNIFEM, and the Canadian Fund.