SEESAC Organizes 2nd Advanced Seminar on Gender Equality for the Serbian Military Academy Cadets
The Advanced Seminars on Gender Equality are developed with the aim to further increase gender awareness of Military Academy cadets and advance understanding of future officers on inclusion of gender perspective in the armed forces.
The series of four advanced seminars are organized upon the request of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia based on the high interest expressed by cadets in the evaluation of the basic training. Seven (7) female and twelve (12) male cadets of the Military Academy 135th class attended the 2nd Advanced Seminar on Gender Equality on 3 April 2014.
The training, which is tailored specifically for cadets who have undergone the basic gender awareness seminars, is focused on gender perspective in the Security Sector Reform (SSR); gender equality mechanisms in the Ministry of Defence; the position on women in the Serbian Armed Forces based on the data from the study on the Position of Women in the Armed Forces in the Western Balkans; and gender in multinational operations.
At the beginning of the 2nd Advanced Seminar on Gender Equality, through an interactive quiz, cadets summarized lessons learned from the basic training on gender, gender discrimination and strategies for achieving gender equality.
Cadets have actively participated in the seminar exercises and showed great interest in the topics related to the recruitment of women in the armed forces and mechanisms for protection from discrimination in the military.
The Advanced Seminars on Gender Equality are organized within the framework of the regional project Gender Equality in the Military: Strengthening of Regional Cooperation on Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans.
The previous seminar was held on 27 March 2014.
ABOUT THE GENDER EQUALITY IN THE MILITARY PROJECT
SEESAC's Gender Equality in the Military project aims to create a more conducive environment for the advancement of women in the military in the Western Balkans. With this as its goal, SEESAC is supporting the Ministries of Defense in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia in their efforts to ensure better integration, retention and professional development for women in the armed forces as well as stronger participation of women in decision-making and gender sensitive change in their organizational cultures.