14.03.2014.
Increasing contribution of Serbia in UN peacekeeping missions
After the recent visit to Washington, where Nebojsa Rodic, Minister of Defence in the caretaker government, underlined Serbia's commitment to participate in peacekeeping operations, in an article on the website of the State Department the Serbian military leadership was commended for promoting peace and security.
“Serbian participation in multinational peacekeeping missions, as well as the creation of a regional leadership role for Serbia in the pre-deployment training of Peace Keeping Operations (PKO) forces, enables the Serbian Armed Forces (SAF) to show neighbors that it is taking concrete steps to develop into a force that is capable of substantially contributing to regional and international stability", reads the text claiming that the United States will support Serbia in its efforts to continue this positive trend.The USA support Serbia's efforts through the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), and since entering into a partnership with the United States through the Department of State-led Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) in 2011, the number of peacekeepers Serbia deploys in UN missions has grown exponentially. In addition to the fact that as of January 2014, Serbia had 213 peacekeepers deployed to six UN missions, with plans to increase deployments in the future, it is emphasized that Serbia was the first non-EU state to offer forces for the European Union Training Mission in Mali.
It is pointed out that the Government of Serbia has not been merely a passive recipient of the US Government assistance through GPOI, but also invests its own national funds in constructing a peace operations training centre, which gains regional importance.
Part of the text is devoted to the fact that, in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, women on average comprise seven percent of Serbia's peace support operations personnel. Serbia deployed its first female officer to a peacekeeping operation (MONUSCO) in 2013, and as of January 2014, Serbia has 15 female peacekeepers in the field. It is pointed out that the Serbian professional army fully integrated women into the military ranks, with a growing number of women in the officer corps.
