Second Annual Meeting of WPON

The Women Police Officers Network (WPON) in South East Europe held its 2nd Annual Meeting 1-3 December 2011 in Becici. The meeting was jointly organized by UNDP/SEESAC, the South East Europe Police Chiefs Association (SEPCA) and the Police Directorate of Montenegro. The meeting was opened by Mr. Veselin Veljovic, the Director of the Police Directorate of Montenegro and President SEPCA; Ms. Lovita Ramgutee, UNDP Montenegro Deputy Resident Representative; Mr. Zlatko Miletic, Executive Director of SEPCA; Ms. Jelena Vasiljevic, outgoing Chair of the WPON Executive Committee; and Ms. Jane Townsley, President of the International Association of Women Police (IAWP).

Veselin Veljovic welcomed participants by stating that WPON’s activities are undoubtedly paving the way for a better integration of women police officers in the police service and that through the realization of the WPON project the participation of women in police service, on all levels, will be quantifiably increased.

Lovita Ramgutee followed  by reminding everyone that eleven years after the adoption of the UN SC Resolution 1325, which called for full and equal representation of women in the administration of peace, security and justice at all levels, women remain underrepresented in the police services. This is why Ms. Ramgutee specifically commended SEPCA for its initiative to establish the Women Police Officers Network in South East Europe. Ms. Ramgutee stressed that through “gender mainstreaming in policing practices we ensure that the priorities and needs of different groups of the population are duly addressed.”

Zlatko Miletic pointed out that women should assume their rightful positions not only in the police services, but in society in general. With this in mind, Mr. Miletic assured the participants that SEPCA will continue to support WPON. 

On behalf of WPON members, Jelena Vasiljevic thanked all directors of police services and ministers of interior who supported WPON in its first year of existence and assured them that WPON members, as a result, are now more confident in advocating for gender equality.

Finally, Jane Townsley reminded participants that they are now role models and encouraged them to take this opportunity and reach out to and inspire other women in police services. Existence of WPON gives its members a clear benefit of knowing that they are not alone and provides them with the opportunity to exchange experiences and learn from each other.

During the 2nd Annual Meeting, WPON members also elected WPON’s second Executive Committee and discussed and approved the annual work plan for 2012. The new Executive Committee will now consist Ms. Sanja Sumonja from the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior (MoI) as Chair, Ms. Jelena Vasiljevic, MoI of the Republic of Serbia as Deputy Chair, and Ms. Ljiljana Gogic of the Montenegro Police Directorate as Chair Elect.

Participants also heard presentations by Ms. Tatjana Bobanar, Deputy Director of Police of the Republic of Slovenia; and Ms. Julie Spence, retired Chief Constable of the Cambridgeshire Police on their experience in promoting gender equality. In addition, participants shared updates and discussed the course which gender mainstreaming is taking in each of the police services. The exchange of experiences was invaluable.

The establishment of WPON was initiated by SEPCA in 2008 and comes following a process of expert and technical meetings which took place throughout 2009 and 2010. The Network’s creation is supported by the recommendations from a regional study on the position of women in police services in SEE which was conducted in 2009. The study provides the framework for the work of the WPON in advancing gender equality in police services and promoting gender sensitive police work.

The WPON vision is that national women police personnel associations collaborate through WPON to improve the status of women in police services and ensure security for women in the region.