08.03.2015.
Minister Gasic with Serbian peacekeepers in the Central African Republic
Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic visited members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces in the Central African Republic. The Serbian MoD and SAF members are deployed in two multinational operations in that country. The Defence Minister will meet with representatives of the UN Secretary General in charge of multinational operations and officials of the missions of MINUSCA under the mandate of the United Nations and EUFOR RCA led by the European Union. This is the first visit of a Serbian Minister of Defence to the UN and EU Forces in the Central African Republic. This is an indication that Serbia and the Ministry of Defence are rendering absolute support to peace efforts thus stressing the importance of international missions.In the MINUSCA mission, 72 MoD and SAF members wear the Serbian flag on their uniforms, 20 of whom are women. It is not an insignificant fact that according to the number of women in the ranks we are in advance compared to the other contingents, even those with more than a thousand uniformed members of personnel.
In honour of the ladies who are deployed in missions in the Central African Republic and on the occasion of the visit of the Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic, commanding officer of the Serbian contingent Colonel Milivoje Pajovic is to host a gala dinner. Minister Gasic will present the female members of the Serbian and other contingents with appropriate presents.
In the EUFOR RCA mission, Serbia deployed, together with other military forces of the European Union, a four-member medical team including three women. They work in the EU UCATEX camp along with French, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, Polish, Estonian and other female colleagues from the European armies.
By the way, the MINUSCA mission is the third largest of 16 current peacekeeping missions under the UN mandate. The military deployable medical treatment facility Role 2 employed by Serbia in the Central African Republic is our largest deployment after the mission in Lebanon; however, according to the number of experts and specialists it is certainly the largest one. Thirteen top doctors with long working experience supported by 34 medical technicians have the obligation to take care of nearly 5,000 UN members of personnel deployed in the capital of Bangui. In addition, the hospital includes also Air Medical Evacuation Team (AMET) which had many deployments so far in the depth of the territory of the Central African Republic and towards other African countries and higher-role medical treatment facilities. Our medical forces are supported by our own Serbian Armed Forces logistics and four staff officers work in the mission headquarters.
Out of 328 members of the Serbian Armed Forces which are currently deployed in 11 UN and EU peacekeeping missions, 39 are women, or nearly 12 percent, which is a percentage of which a small number of contingents could boast.
