Deputy Minister at the regional conference on the role of women in peace building

The conference was opened by the President of Croatia Ivo Josipović, and along with the many participants in the debate, it was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Defence, Višnja Tafra. In her speech, within the thematic panel discussion “Corruption and Crime – factors of insecurity in the region and a threat to peace”, Višnja Tafra welcomed the idea of ​​the event, both for raising awareness of corruption, crime and their hazardous effects on society as a whole, and because of better understanding of the role of women as active participants in decision-making and peace-building and the development of stable societies.

Speaking on the role and position of women in the defense sector of the Republic of Croatia, Višnja Tafra said: “Women were, since the establishment of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces, integrated in the joint effort to defend the Homeland and build capabilities. Given that we in the last year set the organizational structure that strengthened the position of women in positions of influence in decision-making, they, in recent times, can far more contribute to anticorruption activities. This year we have increased the number of women who hold some of the most important functions in the Defence Ministry”. In the MOD we have a deputy defence minister, two assistant minister of defence, and a number of women significantly increased as the head of offices, departments, as experts of the legal profession, etc. While she was pleased with these achievements, Višnja Tafra emphasized that we still need to invest a lot of joint efforts, training, co-ordination and mutual respect.

Conference “Women in Peacebuilding: access to justice for women in post-conflict countries” was held under the sponsorship of the UN Women Sub-Regional Office for Central and South Eastern Europe, with the support of the Office for Gender Equality of the Croatian Government and the Zagreb City Assembly.