Serbia’s MoD and AFs Training Manual on Gender Equality Presented with SEESAC’s Support

Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Armed Forces (SAF) presented the Training Manual on Gender Equality in Belgrade on 15 March 2016. The Manual was developed by the MoD and SAF Gender Trainers with UNDP SEESAC support, as part of the Gender Equality in the Military in the Western Balkans Project.
 

The Training Manual is created to support education and training on gender equality and is intended for different target groups in the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces.
 

"The Manual is a powerful educational tool on gender equality that will be used by MoD and SAF educators and trainers”, Ms. Jovanka Saranovic, Gender Advisor to the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Serbia said during the presentation of the Manual, thanking SEESAC for expert support provided in the process.
 

Gender trainers who developed the Manual are members of the Regional Network of Gender Trainers in the MoDs and AFs in the Western Balkans which was created in 2014, Ms. Danijela Djurović, UNDP SEESAC Project Officer/Advisor and one of the editors of the Manual said. The Network consist of 33 gender trainers from MoDs and AFs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, she explained adding that the Network’s Trainers provided briefings on gender equality for over 3,000 representatives of MoDs and members of AFs in these four countries in 2015 alone.
 

Ms. Tanja Visacki, from the Institute for Strategic Research of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia and one of the editors of the Manual, pointed out that the Manual is flexible and gives clear guidelines to instructors how to best hold trainings.
 

The Manual helps instructors develop and deliver sessions on the following topics: basic concepts such as sex, gender and gender equality; gender stereotypes and prejudices; discrimination; anti-discrimination legal framework in the Republic of Serbia; the position of women and men in Serbia; gender perspective and security sector reform; UNSC Resolution1325 - On Women Peace and Security; implementation of UNSCR 1325 in the Republic of Serbia. Furthermore, the Manual helps instructors devise sessions in which participants learn what they can do to advance gender equality in Serbia’s Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces. The Manual also contains step by step instructions on how to design and evaluate training sessions.
 

The Serbian version of the Manual is currently available at the SEESAC’s website, with the English translation coming soon. 

About THE GENDER EQUALITY IN THE MILITARY PROJECT

SEESAC's Gender Equality in the Military:  Strengthening of Regional Cooperation on Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans project aims to create a more conducive environment for the advancement of women in the military in the Western Balkans. With this as its goal, SEESAC is supporting the Ministries of Defence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Republic of Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in their efforts to ensure better integration, retention and professional development for women in the armed forces; stronger participation of women in decision-making; and gender sensitive change in their organizational culture.