18Oct2013

The National Action Plan on the UNSC Resolution 1325 – three years after

Since the adoption of the UNSCR Resolution 1325 in 2000, only 39 UN members have adopted national action plans for its implementation. As the conclusions of the Conference "Independent monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the NAP on UNSCR 1325 - Women, Peace and Security in Serbia" show, albeit Serbia was the second in the region, after Bosnia and Herzegovina, to adopt the national action plan (NAP), main goals of the NAP have not yet been accomplished. The Conference was held on October 10^th in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, and was organized by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

The Public Policy Research Centre was among civil society organizations participating in the Conference. Except civil society organizations, representatives of the Multi-Sector Coordinating Body for the Implementation of the NAP, Commission Monitoring the Implementation of the NAP, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, Commissioner for Protection of Equality, and of other state bodies were present as well. The Conference was held on October 10^th in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, and was organized by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

Two independent implementation reports, containing essentially different notion of the NAP’s achievements and women’s participation in the security sector, were presented.

The Women in Black representative Gordana Subotic stated that, due to the lack of funding, the NAP’s goals remained only secondary activity in the security sector. Additionally, it seems that the NAP was adopted just as a part of the EU accession process. In her opinion, women’s inclusion in peace negotiations and prevention of gender based war crimes impunity should be the NAP’s implementation priorities.

On the other hand, the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy representative Maja Bjelos listed several NAP’s successes, primarily establishment of the institutional structure and all gender equality mechanisms in the security sector. Likewise, gender-sensitive language and “persons of trustˮ were introduced in the Ministry of Defence, and the quotas for women’s admission to the Military Academy and the Police Academy were abolished or mitigated. Bjelos emphasized that the media interest for this topic is significantly greater than before. She suggested that the NAP’s priorities should be maintaining its continuity and making it a part of all main trends in the security sector institutions, and relocation of the implementation focus to the local level.

Present representatives of the MoD asserted that they are satisfied with so far achievements in the NAP’s implementation, and announced gender based changes in the Serbian Armed Forces’ Rule of Service. According to the MoD, introduction of the affirmative quotas for women’s enrollment to the Military Academy (at least 30% of women among cadets, without upper limit for their number) represents one of the most significant implementation’s successes.

During the Conference the NAP’s budgeting issue was raised, and President of the Commission Monitoring the Implementation of the NAP Zlata Djeric announced that gender based budgeting will be incorporated in the coming state budget. Future amendments to the Law on Gender Equality were discussed, as well. Commissioner for Protection of Equality stated that the crucial problem is the absence of complete implementation of the legal framework, and not legal framework itself. During her exposure on problems in civil and military education, the Commissioner used results of the Centre’s most recent research on teaching porgrammes and materials in the Military High School and Military Academy.

The National Action Plan for implementation of the UNSC Resolution 1325 in Serbia was adopted in 2010. The two most important bodies for its application - Political Council, composed of high-ranking political officials, and Multi-Sector Coordinating Body composed of representatives of the ministries and other institutions to which the NAP applies, were formed in 2012. The last body to be formed (in 2013) – the Commission Monitoring the Implementation of the NAP – was made as the supervisory authority consisting of deputies and and the representative of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality. Civil society organizations are involved in the process of monitoring the NAP’s implementation, and in 2012 a dialogue between CSO and Multi-Sector Coordinating Body was held. Additionally, in July 2013 a cross-sectoral meeting was organized, and the representatives of all bodies responsible for the implementation and monitoring, as well as the CSO’s representatives, participated. Public Policy Research Centre participated actively in both meetings.

Recently, at the Military Academy and within the project "Gender Equality in the Military: Strengthening of Regional Cooperation on Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans ˮ, a one-day course on gender equality in the Serbian Armed Forces was held. The course was organized by SEESAC ( The South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons ), and the focus was on the women’s role in the development and implementation of security policies, as well as on the implementation of Resolution 1325 in Serbia. 15 male and 10 female cadets took part, and this was the first of four planned courses.