SEESAC Continues to Support Military Academy in Organizing Gender Awareness Seminars

In an effort to raise gender awareness among the next generation of officers in the Serbian Armed Forces, SEESAC continues to support the Military Academy of the Ministry of Defence of Republic of Serbia in the organization of Gender Awareness Seminars. A one-day seminar was organized on 2 April 2015 with the support of SEESAC for six (6) women and fourteen (14) men, all first year military cadets at the Military Academy in Belgrade. 

The training, specifically tailored for cadets,  included basic concepts related to gender equality, and the relevance of gender equality for security sector reform;  statistical overview on the position of men and women in Serbia, and the Serbian Armed Forces in particular. The seminar also presented different strategies for achieving gender equality, types of gender based discrimination, ways for elimination of gender stereotypes, and the role of gender perspective in the Security Sector Reform.  

The cadets who took part in the seminar actively participated in exercises and expressed their interest in the topic, particularly in gender roles and position of women in the armed forces.

The gender awareness seminar is organized at the request of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia within the framework of the regional Gender Equality in the Military: Strengthening of Regional Cooperation on Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans project.