SEESAC Supports Participation of Representatives of Serbia and the FYR Macedonia in the ESDC Core Course on SSR

A European Security and Defence College (ESDC) Core Course on Security Sector Reform (SSR)  took place in Stadtschlaining, Austria, from 16 to 23 March 2013.

UNDP/SEESAC  supported the participation of female MoD representatives of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Republic of Serbia in this course as a way of bolstering their career development.  The support was provided through UNDP/SEESAC's flagship project, “Support for Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans” - a project assisting the ongoing  efforts by the Ministries of Defense (MoD) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia  to integrate gender equality into their policies, procedures and practices through regional cooperation.

The course was organized by Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR) in collaboration with the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and was designated for participants nominated by relevant institutions of the EU and its member states, EU candidate countries, OSCE participating states and UN organizations.

The course provides personnel of the Member States and EU institutions who are involved in the programming and planning of the EU missions and operations at the strategic level, with the EU approach to SSR and teaches them about relevant challenges for their field of expertise.

Having completed the course, participants will be able to use the EU approach to SSR as a basis for their engagement in the framework of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and Community external action activities, to apply step-by-step planning skills, implement and assess major SSR tasks and collaborate better with other actors from the various segments of the security sector.