Thursday, 22 December 2011

Public Hearing Held on the “Execution of the National Action Plan for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 – Women, Peace and Security”

Today, the National Assembly hosted a public hearing on the “Execution of the National Action Plan for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 – Women, Peace and Security”, organised by the Committee on Defense and Security.


Opening the public hearing, Meho Omerovic, member of the Committee on Defense and Security, said that now, a year after the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325, we should asses what has been done to implement it, what tasks await in the future and what the National Assembly needs to do, primarily as regards controlling the implementation of the National Action Plan. Omerovic stated that the Republic of Serbia has recognised the importance of introducing gender equality into the reform of the security sector, stressing that security is not just a man’s issue.

National Assembly Speaker Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic Dejanovic said that times and attitudes have changed so that not only men deal with security issues, but women have also become an active factor in establishing stability and security. They play the role of peacemakers, politicians and activists. The Speaker pointed out that the formation and functioning of institutional mechanisms for the implementation of the National Action Plan should receive special attention and that it was necessary to create a Monitoring Body to overview the implementation of the NAP, which is within the National Assembly’s scope, and which would comprise representatives of the National Assembly’s competent committees and the Equality Protection Commissioner.

Jelena Travar Miljevic, member of the Gender Equality Committee, reminded the assembly that Serbia was one of 21 states who adopted UNSC Resolution 1325, thus strengthening the role of women in the reform process of the security sector and achieving gender equality. Travar Miljevic pointed out that the task of creating a Monitoring Body to overview the implementation of the NAP awaits the National Assembly and suggested to send a proposition to the National Assembly Speaker to hold a National Assembly sitting to adopt a Decision on the formation of a Monitoring Body to which the competent committees of the National Assembly would delegate representatives.

Sonja Licht, of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence which implements the project “Partnership for Gender and Human Security”, stressed that this project gathered representatives of the legislative power, executive power, independent regulatory bodies, as well as the civil society which is an indicator of our society’s maturity, pointing out that these are important steps in strengthening parliamentary democracy and the state.

Dr Tanja Miscevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Defense and President of the Political Council for the implementation of the National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 – Women, Peace and Security, Vesna Nikolic, Head of the General Legal Affairs Department at the Secretariat of the Ministry of Interior and President of the Multi-Sector Coordinating Body for the implementation of the National Action Plan and Major General Dr Bozidar Forca, Chief of the Defense Policy Sector Strategic Planning Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and Vice President of the Multi-Sector Coordinating Body also spoke at the public hearing. They talked about the implemented measures, activities and results a year after the adoption of the National Action Plan, as well as the future steps in its implementation.

Dragana Petrovic from the Gender Equality Council of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Sonja Stojanovic, Director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy and Zorana Antonijevic of the OSCE Mission to Serbia took part in the ensuing debate. The debate centered on the need to work continuously on the execution of the National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 – Women, Peace and Security, as well as the need to do statistical analysis and qualitative research on the representation and involvement of women in the security sector.

Taking part in the debate, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gordana Comic stressed that it is essential to clearly explain the meaning of gender equality in the security sector to the citizens of Serbia, while MP Konstantin Arsenovic expressed his belief that the successful introduction of the gender equality principle into the defense and security sector should be continued.


Committees related to this activity



Previous month Next month
M T W T F S S
26 27 28 29 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
friday, 29 march
  • 9.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

Full event calendar