Presentation in Montenegro of the Report on the Position of Women in Police Services in South East Europe
On 15 November 2010, the National Police Service of Montenegro, with the support of SEESAC, organized the presentation of the report Establishing the Southeast Europe Women Police Officers Network-Research Findings (WPON). Following opening statements and a press conference to mark the launch of the report, a roundtable on the improvement of the position of women in policing and the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 was held.
Welcoming participants, Mr.Veselin Veljovic, Director of Police reminded that the SEPCA General Assembly initiated the establishment of the Women Police Officers Network at its meeting in 2008. In the process of the establishment of the WPON support was provided by relevant international organizations, such as the OSCE, ODIHR, UNDP, RCC and SEESAC. Veljovic stated that ‘the project has strong support from police services.’ He added that he agreed with his colleagues in the region ‘that women continue to be underrepresented in top decision-making positions and at the operational level in police services.’ He went on to present statistical data on the representation of women in police service in Montenegro,
stating that ‘even though all positions are open for women and men, women represent only 12.5% of all Ministry of Interior employees and only 7% of all uniformed staff. Only two women are represented at the strategic and middle management levels.’
Addressing participants, Mr. Alexander Avanessov, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident representative recalled the fact that only a few weeks before hand, in October 2010, the tenth anniversary of UNSCR 1325 was marked. He insisted that the work of achieving equal participation of women in security related matters is far from being completed and that the WPON makes a significant contribution to raising the awareness of the link between gender and security.
Following a brief presentation of the WPON project by Ms. Bojana Balon, Ms. Sneana Novović of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia, who was the lead researcher for the report “Establishing the South East Europe Women Police Officers Network – Research Findings” presented some of the main conclusions of the report.
Finally, Ms.Nada Drobnjak, President of the Gender Equality Committee in the Parliament of Montenegro presented the legal framework for gender equality in Montenegro and the UNSCR 1325. She stressed the importance of women’s unpaid work as one of the most important factors contributing to women’s unequal participation at the labour market and in political decision-making. She also reminded the participants of the responsibility that Police Directorate has in the
implementation of legislation related to gender based violence.
Presentations were followed by a discussion on gender equality in Montenegro and ways to improve the position of women in police service.
The Agenda of the meeting can be downloaded here.