UNDP SEESAC attends 26th SEDM-CC and 27th PMSC Meetings in Rome, Italy

On 13-15 March 2012, the 26th South Eastern Defense Ministerial Coordination Committee (SEDM-CC) and the 27th Political and Military Steering Committee (PMSC) meetings were held in Rome, Italy and were attended by UNDP SEESAC representatives Bojana Balon and Tamara Svircev. The goal of the meetings, chaired by the Deputy Minister of Defence of Italy, was to present the ongoing and future activities of SEDM-CC, PMSC and its 14 participating nations all of which aim to enhance security, stability and regional cooperation in South Eastern Europe. Other participating organizations, namely NATO, NATO NC3A, RACVIAC and RCC also presented their activities and outlined the importance of continuous cooperation in the security sector in the region of South Eastern Europe.

UNDP SEESAC presented the project ‘Strengthening of Regional Cooperation on Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans’ the launch of which will take place on 22 March 2012 in Belgrade, Serbia. The project aims to support ongoing efforts by the Ministries of Defense (MoD) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia to integrate gender equality into their policies, procedures and practices through regional cooperation. The project’s main goals are the establishment of strong and effective Gender Focal Points, improved recruitment and retention of women personnel and capacity development for gender sensitization.

The UNDP SEESAC project complements SEDM-CC Female Leadership in Security and Defense Conference (FLSD) project which seeks to gather on a yearly basis senior female leaders and to discuss and assess their nations’ specific challenges with regard to gender and security and defense.

The next annual SEDM-CC and PMSC meetings will be held on 11-13 September 2012 in Italy.