SEESAC contributes to dialogue on women in OSCE verification missions
SEESAC presented key prerequisites for the advancement of gender equality in the military and shared lessons learnt from the Western Balkans at the side event Vienna Document 2011 Verification and the Role of Women organized by the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre on 28 February, 2017 in Vienna.
The event was held as part of the 27th Annual Implementation Assessment Meeting, organized to discuss reasons for the low number of women in verification activities under the Vienna Document, share national polices and experiences on gender mainstreaming in the armed forces, as well as experiences of men and women serving as inspectors in verification activities.
Mr. Robin Mossinkoff, Head of the Forum for Security Cooperation Support Section opened the event by saying that despite significant successes achieved by many OSCE participating States in increasing the number of women in the armed forces, the number of women participating in the military verification under Vienna Document 2011, remains low. According to Participation of Women in the Vienna Document 2011 Verification Activities: Statistical Overview (2016), women constitute 3 to 5 percent of the verification activities.
Ms. Ragnhild Hustad, Head of the Arms Control Verification, the Defence Staff, Norwegian Armed Forces, said the position of women in verification centers reflects the position of women in the society. To increase the number of women in the verification centers, the number of women who are dealing with the arms control should be increased, as well as their professional capacities, Hustad said. She added that the Norwegian Armed Forces introduced universal conscription for both men and women in January 2015 with the aim to expand the pool of conscripts and enable selection among the best military candidates of both sexes.
SEESAC shared lessons learnt from implementation of regional project Gender Equality in the Military in the Western Balkans, emphasizing that there are 3 main preconditions for achieving gender equality in armed forces: strong gender equality mechanisms in the MoDs and AFs; gender responsive human resource policies and practices that enable better recruitment, retention and professional development of women; and increased gender awareness of military personnel.