Presentation of the Report - Establishing the Southeast Europe Women Police Officers Network

On 28 October 2010 the Administration of Federal Police in BiH, with the support of SEESAC, organized the presentation of the report Establishing the Southeast Europe Women Police Officers Network (WPON). Following a press conference to mark the launch of the report, a roundtable on the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 was held.

The roundtable was opened by H.E. Jan Braathu, Ambassador of Norway to BIH; Mr. Yuri Afanasiev, UNDP Resident Representative; Ms. Aleksandra Miletić Šantić from the EUPM; Ms. Bojana Balon, SEESAC, Coordinator of Regional Project Support for Gender Mainstreaming in Policing Practice in SEE; and Mr.Alija Kazić, Advisor to Director of Police BiH-Federation. The speakers stressed the importance of knowledge based reform activities and complimented the initiative for the establishment of the Women Police Officers Network in SEE as a good example contributing to democratization and modernization of police services in the region.

Ms.Maida Ćehajić from the Agency for Gender Equality presented the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and the recently adopted Action Plan for its implementation in BiH. Ms. Bojana Balon, introduced the initiative aimed at establishing the Women Police Officers Network in SEE and plans to make WPON a lead agency for advocating gender mainstreaming in policing practice. Ms. Snezžana Novović, from the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia presented the key findings and recommendations of the report Establishing the Southeast Europe Women Police Officers Network-Research Findings.

The roundtable was attended by 40 representatives from several of the police institutions in BiH, as well as representatives of Agency for Gender Equality, EUPM, OSCE, ODIHR, women’s NGO’s. It provided a much needed forum for discussion on future activities aimed at the implementation of the report recommendations.

The presentation of the report was organized within the framework of a regional project implemented by SEESAC in cooperation with the South East Europe Police Chiefs Association (SEPCA) Support for Gender Mainstreaming in Policing Practice in South Eastern Europe. The project is financially supported by the UNDP Gender Thematic Trust Fund and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Agenda of the meeting can be downloaded here.