Deputy Minister Tafra at the conference on the role of women in the field of defence and security

This is the first conference of this type, which was held with the aim of growing into a permanent forum for which to give political impetus to higher-level dialogue on the possibilities of increased participation of women in leading positions in the sphere of defence and security, and their contribution to peace and stability. This initiative also represents one of the priority projects within NATO “Smart Defence” initiative with the aim of improved engagement of professional resources in the sphere of security and defence, with emphasis on the gender perspective.
In his address during the Conference Deputy Defence Minister Višnja Tafra emphasized the contribution of women in the Croatian Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces, their role in the performance of military duties in the Armed Forces, and the contribution that women make through involvement in international peacekeeping missions and operations. In this context Tafra stressed that legislation provided equal opportunities for women and men in all segments of the defence system, from joining the Ministry of Defence, through the process of selection and classification, training and education, to exercise duties and promotion, and ultimately participation in peace support operations and other activities abroad. “Every year we witness the fact that more women have been applying for military service and join the armed forces, and concurrently, year after year, the number of women in the MOD that take a leading and responsible positions is growing”, Tafra said, adding that currently women in the Defence Ministry constitute over 50% of totally employed. Speaking on the representation of women in the Armed Forces she stressed that this figure is around 12%, where the largest number refers to the category of officer. “Females also contribute in international missions and operations, where they perform duties of military observer, staff officers in headquarters, military police, medical and other specialized military duties, and in 2010 more than 9% of women from the Armed Forces took part in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, which is above the average for NATO and in accordance with the recommendations of the Alliance for increasing of women’s involvement in NATO peace support operations”, Tafra said.

Speaking on the implementation of the National Policy for Gender Equality and the Law on Gender Equality, Tafra emphasized that the MOD and CAF systematically worked on the establishment and promotion of gender equality. She said that the Defence Ministry, in accordance with the existing legislative framework and international instruments that protect women’s rights, continuously carried out a series of measures aimed at raising awareness of leaders of the international peacekeeping mission on the need to protect the safety and rights of women, girls and children and to increase the number of women in leadership positions within the security system and generally in all decision making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for preventing, managing and resolving conflicts.

“I am convinced that women can greatly contribute to the development of national defence capacity, which is one reason why the Republic of Croatia, together with other NATO partners, decided to participate in a project that relates to the role and contribution of women to the defence and security issues within the NATO Smart Defence Initiative”, Tafra said at the end.