SEESAC Supports Seminar on Gender Equality and Antidiscrimination for the MoD Serbia Public Relations Staff

BELGRADE – “The Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Republic of Serbia is committed to raising gender equality in the military,” Deputy Head of Public Relations Department Lieutenant Colonel Mihailo Zogović said in opening a one day seminar on gender equality and anti-discrimination policies for the Ministry’s Public Relations Department on 7 May 2015. He thanked SEESAC for co-organizing the seminar and stated that media play an important role in the elimination of gender stereotypes, while at the same time recognizing that media can contribute to creating conductive environment for better integration of women in the military.

The goal of the seminar is to offer an overview of anti-discrimination policies and provide concrete examples of manifestations of discrimination in daily life. Furthermore, the seminar raised participants’ skills on gender responsive and discriminatory free media reporting in the MOD and SAF. 

Prof. Nevena Petrušić, former Commissioner for Protection of Equality in the Republic of Serbia, delivered a session on antidiscrimination policy framework and explained how discrimination works in practice, how to recognize it and report it.  Danas daily journalist Jelena Diković provided analysis of print media from the perspective of gender equality and pointed out good examples of gender responsive media reporting.

The final session resulted in the mapping of relevant topics to be explored as media stories and was delivered by two gender instructors, the MoD Serbia Spokesperson Lieutenant Commander Jovan Krivokapić, and his colleague from the PR Department Sanja Savić. They facilitated media planning for the MoD, while participants provided information on topics related to gender equality that should be addressed in the MoD media.

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. Building on this goal, SEESAC is supporting the Ministries of Defence 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. Furthermore, SEESAC supports their efforts to foster stronger participation of women in decision-making, and gender sensitive changes in their organizational cultures.