SEESAC presents its activities at the SEDM-DCHOD meeting in Sarajevo

SEESAC participated in the Deputy Chiefs of Defense (SEDM-DCHOD) meeting held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 8-10 June 2016. The annual meetings of the South-Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial Process - SEDM provided regional platform to discuss ongoing issues of common interest, as well as security and defense challenges in the SEE region.

SEESAC presented its accomplishments, current and upcoming activities in arms control in South East Europe (SEE).  While facilitating three regional processes, South East Europe Firearms Expert Network (SEEFEN), Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Commissions, Regional Information Exchange Process (RIEP) which support both policy making bodies and practitioners, SEESAC is assisting the Ministries of Defense (MoD) in Sarajevo, Podgorica, and Skopje in their efforts to improve the security and management of stockpiles through infrastructure improvements. Similar support will be provided in 2016 to the Ministries of Defense in Tirana and Chisinau. In addition, SEESAC organized two regional course on physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) for Ministries of Interior (MoIs) and is planning a new one for MoD specialists in July 2016 in Belgrade.

As part of its efforts to integrate the gender perspective into defense policies, SEESAC has been implementing Gender Equality in the Military in the Western Balkans project in close cooperation with the Ministries of Defense in Sarajevo, Podgorica, Belgrade and Skopje. This four year-long project was launched in March 2012 focusing on three key areas: increasing gender awareness in the defense sector and armed forces, strengthening gender equality mechanisms, and supporting gender sensitive human resource policy reform in order to improve the recruitment and retention of women.

The SEDM-DCHOD meeting convened delegations from 13 SEDM member countries (Tirana, Sarajevo, Sofia, Zagreb, Tbilisi, Athens, Rome, Podgorica, Bucharest, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Skopje, Ankara, and Kiev). The participants adopted Joint Statement reiterating that the regional military cooperation is of great importance for security and stability in the region, whereas national capacities should be coordinated and synergized in order to respond to common security threats. In addition, participants reiterated that the equal treatment of the women in the military is of critical importance not only for the defense sectors but societies as a whole in the context of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

The SEDM Process was launched at a meeting of defense ministers in Tirana, in 1996, with the aim to promote regional political and military cooperation, in order to strengthen peace, security and stability in the South-Eastern Europe. Next annual SEDM/DCHOD meeting will be hosted by Montenegro in June 2017.