During 19-20 September 2022 year, a seminar on gender equality and perspective in the military environment was held at the Hotel Panoramika in Skopje.
UNDP SEESAC organized the seminar through the regional project Strengthening of Regional Cooperation on Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans project, financed by the Governments of Norway and the Slovak Republic. The chairman of the seminar was Dr Tatjana Vishacki, UNDP SEESAC project manager for gender issues.
The aim of the seminar was the need for promotion and professional development of the gender mainstream through competencies and abilities that will help women and men working in military environments to realize their full potential and thereby contribute to improving the operational efficiency of the Armed forces. Gender mainstreaming at the international level represents a strategy for advancing gender equality and perspective. Gender mainstreaming essentially integrates the gender perspective through the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of regulations, programs and projects with specific steps for the promotion of gender equality and perspective.
The agenda of the thematic units of this seminar was based on:
- Review of statistical data on women's and men's positions in the Republic of North Macedonia;
- Percentage representation of women in relation to men in the military environment and their career guidance in relation to men;
- Strengthening of regional cooperation between SEE countries for gender equality and perspective;
- Raising the level of gender awareness in the Armed forces;
- Improving gender capacities in MoD and Armed Forces through the establishment of appropriate departments and sectors and
- Improving gender perspective according to the individual capacities and abilities of the military personnel
The main objectives of the gender equality and perspective seminar included:
- Analysis of gender-sensitive issues in the Armed forces;
- Providing equal opportunities for career guidance and development;
- Development of a regional platform for gender equality and perspective between the SEE countries;
- Support and implementation of directives and standards for improving the training and education in the Military Academy with gender equality and perspective topics;
- Exchange of good experiences and practices for gender equality and perspective between SEE countries;
The focus of this seminar was taken by the Military Academy, which was attended by 12 personnel from the teaching staff, whose specific proposals and recommendations during the implementation of thematic contents and exercises on gender equality and perspective gave concrete steps that should be taken by UNDP SEESAC on gender issues in the future in cooperation with NATO, EU and OSCE.
