Good Practices on Women, Peace and Security from the Western Balkans Featured in the First Global Analysis on the Position of Women in National Defence Institutions
Promoting gender equality and women’s participation in the security sector has been widely recognized as critical in building more accountable, inclusive, and responsive institutions. A representative and diverse security sector positively affects people’s trust in state institutions and their ability to prevent violence and deliver responsive security services.
In October 2024, the United Nations published the first-ever global report on equal opportunity for women in the defence sector, Towards Equal Opportunity for Women in Defence. It is grounded in the data provided by 55 Member States and a desk review of relevant sources on the current status of women in the defence. The UN Report finds that Governments have taken many steps to advance gender equality and increase women’s participation in their national defence sector. Still, the remaining challenges and barriers to women's recruitment, retention, career development, and promotion must be addressed to eliminate informal practices preventing women from fully and meaningfully participating in defence institutions.
The report emphasizes practices from different regions, including the Western Balkans that have shown promise in promoting gender equality in the defence sector. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro are mentioned in the UN Report as examples of good practices in gender mainstreaming efforts of the armed forces. The report finds that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Inspector General Office of the Ministry of Defence is an important mechanism for driving affirmative action measures to increase the retention and promotion of women staff. In Montenegro, military leaders act as changemakers upon completing the Gender Coach Programme.
The UN Report findings are based on desk research and extensive literature review, including the regional study Position of Women in the Armed Forces in the Western Balkans developed by the Ministries of Defence in the Western Balkans with the support of UNDP SEESAC Strengthening of Regional Cooperation on Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans project.
Since 2012, UNDP SEESAC has been supporting the Ministries of Defence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia to further strengthen the gender perspective in security sector reform in line with the Women, Peace and Security and Sustainable Development Goals Agenda. Apart from tailor-made activities at the national level, SEESAC facilitates regional cooperation among MoDs, strengthening their capacities to implement gender-responsive and evidence-based policies and increasing the participation of uniformed women in the armed forces in the Western Balkans.
The UN Report Towards Equal Opportunity for Women in Defence was developed in accordance with the recommendations of the Report of the Secretary-General on Strengthening Security Sector Reform (S/2022/280). In the concluding remarks, the report underlines that the United Nations stands ready to support Member States in implementing its recommendations, including by helping to identify legal, institutional and regulatory barriers and by building the capacity of national authorities to strengthen women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in the defence sector.