Chairperson of the Gender Equality Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro Ms Nada Drobnjak participated in the international conference “Ohrid initiative – strengthening 1325 communities in the region” which was held in Ohrid on 11th and 12th 2013, organised by the Belgrade fund for political excellence, and supported by UN WOMEN.

The two-day conference was held with the aim to strengthen joint efforts of the Western Balkans countries in the implementation process of the Resolution of the UN Security Council 1325, “Women, Peace and Security”, via dialogue and debate between the participants in the process and decision-makers from the region on the most important aspects in implementation of the resolution, good practice examples, limitations and challenges, cooperation directions and creation of joint capacities and mechanisms. Results and recommendations from the conference will be used as a foundation for continuation of dialogue between the governments, civil sector and international organisations in the region, in order to strengthen sustainability of gender policies in the security sector.

The following had been presented at the conference: individual experiences of countries in the process of implementation of the Resolution 1325 SB UN and introduction of gender policies in the reform of the security sector, role of men in strengthening gender equal strategies and plans, possible directions of regional cooperation which would strengthen the present institutions in charge of implementation and oversight of gender equality.

Within the panel where there was discussion on the implementation of the Resolution 1325 SB UN in the countries that still have not adopted the action plan for its implementation, the Chairperson of the Committee Ms Nada Drobnjak presented the experiences of Montenegro.

Experts from seven Western Balkans countries participated in the work of the conference.