Experts on gender in the military from the Western Balkans - Military officers from the Armed Forces of Montenegro
Gender Trainer and Expert - Military officer from Armed Forces of BiH
Phase II envisaged actions are:
- Place regional cooperation at the core of fostering gender equality in the military;
- Develop regional platforms focusing on mainstreaming gender equality in the Ministries of Defence (MoDs) and Armed Forces (AFs) institutions of the Western Balkans;
- Strengthen the capacity of Gender Equality Mechanisms in the MoDs and AFs to achieve better results through information exchange and knowledge sharing across the region, technical advice and expert support for small projects;
- Work with Human Resources Departments in the MoDs and AFs to collect and analyze sex and age disaggregated data and offer the necessary expertise for these departments to provide advisory services on gender equality to their staff;
- Take all the necessary measures for the armed forces to prevent and respond to gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment including reviewing gaps in policies and procedures, development of guidelines, toolkits and training;
- Make the Regional Network of Gender Trainers stronger by providing support for further capacity building of the network and knowledge sharing;
- Ensure the next generation of armed forces staff understands why gender equality is key to fulfilling their mission by developing a gender-sensitive curricula;
- Enhance knowledge of armed forces commanders and MoD decision makers through tailor made “Gender Coach Programme”.
Sharing practices and expertise
The Ministries of Defence in the Western Balkans are regularly sharing knowledge and practical examples on how to integrate women in the Armed Forces and enable a working environment free from discrimination. To improve the capacities of developing gender responsive policies and gender equality mechanisms, they share experiences, policies, regulations, and lessons learnt.
Today, members of the Regional Network on Gender in the Military trainers are being invited around the world to share their expertise on making gender equality the norm in the institutions they serve. For example, Gender in the Military trained their peers from Ministries of Defence and the Armed Forces from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda. These knowledge and experience exchange from the Western Balkans were enabled through the Regional Security Sector Reform Platform. Find out more about this global expertise sharing mechanism here.