SEESAC Participates in the Conference on the Implementation of the UN SC Resolution 1325 in Montenegro

On 4 June 2013 Ms. Bojana Balon, SEESAC Programme Officer, participated in the conference titled “Cooperation between the state and non-state actors on the Implementation of the UN SC Resolution 1325”, held in Podgorica, Montenegro. The conference was organized by the Public Policy Institute in cooperation with the Gender Equality Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, with the support of the OSCE Mission in Montenegro and UNDP Montenegro.

The government’s commitment to the issue at hand was clearly reflected by the high level presence at the conference. Rasko Konjevic, Minister of Interior of Montenegro, as well as Suad Numanovic, Minister for Human and Minority Rights and  Nada Drobnjak, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Gender Equality opened the event. They were joined in this endeavor by Ambassador Ljubomir Kopaj, Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and Miodrag Dragisic from the United Nation Development Programme in Montenegro.

The aim of the conference was to strenghten the dialogue between state institutions, civil society, media, academia and the public, in view of improving coordination on the implementation of the UN SC Resolution 1325.

With this in mind, key contributors at the conference, in addition to its organizers, were the Women Police Officers Network (WPON) in South East Europe as well as the representatives of NGOs, the academic community and the media. On behalf of the Police Directorate of Montenegro, Ms. Ljulja Djonaj, who is also a member of WPON, spoke about the activities of the network and the efforts of the Police Directorate to advance gender equality.

Participants agreed that the position of women in the society can only be improved if more work is done on advancing effective implementation of laws and strengthening of intersectoral collaboration. Gender equality should wholeheartedly be incorporated in all systems of the security sector.

Speaking on behalf of SEESAC, Ms. Bojana Balon presented the Women Police Officers Network in South East Europe (WPON), as a unique practical example of the implementation of UNSCR 1325 through regional cooperation aimed at mainstreaming gender perspective into the security sector reform.

Ms. Balon spoke about WPON's achievements, emphasizing the two national women police officers associations that have been formed and the Guidelines for Gender Sensitive Policing with an Emphasis on Recruitment, Selection and Professional Development of Women in Police Services,-  a set of simple and low cost measures, which aim to help police services in the South East Europe to attract and retain more qualified women and advance gender equality. (View Ms. Balon’s presentation)

WPON is a regional advocacy platform, consisting of high ranking women police officers from 9 police services in the SEE, which promotes gender equality within the police services and at the same time enables exchange of experience and knowledge on the status, needs and priorities of police women across the SEE region.