At their 27^th meeting held today, the Gender Equality Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro presented the study: Position of women in the armed forces of the Western Balkans countries. The keynote speakers were the following: Ms Nada Drobnjak, Chairperson of the Gender Equality Committee; Ms Milica Pejanović Đurišić, Minister of Defence; Mr Rastislav Vrbensky, UNDP Resident Representative to Montenegro; Col. Esben Aass, Defence Attaché at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway; Mr Ivan Zverzhanovski, Head of UNDP/SEEAC Office. The study was presented by the independent advisor at the Human Resources Management Direction of the Ministry of Defence Ms Radmila Đakonović.    

Ministry of Defence of Montenegro, together with the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Macedonia and Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, supported the regional project in the field of gender equality titled: “Strengthening of Regional Cooperation on Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans”, implemented by the UNDP/SEESAC.

The goal of the project is to integrate the gender equality issues into the security sector reform, especially the defence sector, thus contributing to the increased effectiveness of the security sector in the Western Balkans. The project has been developed in line with the principles of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, advocating full and equal participation of women and integration of gender perspective into all peace and security initiatives, including the security sector reform. The project should contribute to the efforts of the countries in the region to enhance the presence of women in the military profession and to increase, or keep, the existing female military staff in defence system and develop in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, advocating full and equal participation of women and integration of gender perspective into all peace and security initiatives, including the security sector reform.

Study on position of women in the armed forces of the Western Balkans represents the result of joint work of ministries of defence in the region, and is a unique example of regional cooperation of this kind. It contains comparable data on representation of women in the armed forces in the Western Balkans, politics and practice of the ministries of defence and armed force in the field of attraction and employment of women, career development, education and trainings, data on participation of women in peace missions, policy and practice in the field of achieving gender equality in armed forces, as well as actual examples of good practice being carried out in the ministries of defence in the Western Balkans. The study was conducted in order to implement measures from the National action plan for achieving gender equality for the period 2013-2017, or Programme of implementation for the period 2013-2014, and corresponds with the obligations of the Ministry of Defence with regard to the Euro-Atlantic integration of Montenegro. 

The following attended the meeting: members of the Security and Defence Committee – Mr Borislav Banović, Mr Suljo Mustafić, Mr Obrad Mišo Stanišić and Mr Luiđ Škrelja, representatives of the Ministry of Defence, Military of Montenegro, EU Delegation, UNDP/SEEAC, UNDP in Montenegro, OSCE, NGOs and coordinators for the activities of gender equality in the ministries.