The United Nations (UN), global international organization whose declared goal of maintaining and strengthening peace and international security, cooperation between states was established on October 24, 1945 to take into account the lessons of World War II and prevent new armed conflicts and wars.
The UN Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Security Council is one of the six “main bodies” of the United Nations. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.
is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. It is the leading entity that coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality. UN Women was established in 2010 with the resolution of the Assembly as a auxiliary body to accelerate progress on meeting women’s needs worldwide, to achieve efficient use of available resources and to unite mandates and functions of separate departments of the UN system, which were previously engaged exclusively in gender equality and empowerment of women
Military contingents of UN member states are designated under the UN Charter to prevent or eliminate threats to peace and security through joint coercive action ( military demonstration, blockade, etc.) in the event the economic and political measures prove insufficient.
The participation of women peacekeepers in UN peacekeeping operations began in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This happened as a result of the raised awareness of fundamental human rights, the principles of equality between men and women and expansion of other democratic values around the world. Crime and violence, most often perpetrated by male military and civilian units, in the countries where the operations took place, as well as local cultural factors necessitated the participation of female personnel in peacekeeping missions.
DPO has a number of tools to ensure that gender issues are at the heart of their work. One of the most important is the gender mainstreaming policy. This ensures that gender is embedded in all elements of policy development such as security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, police, military, elections.
The DPO also analyzes the impact its peace maintaining activities have on life of both men and women in post-conflict situations.
To ensure that gender is embedded in all peacekeeping operations, the DPO is based on the Policy Directive on Gender Equality in UN Peacekeeping Operations. The guiding principles of the Directive are inclusiveness, non-discrimination, gender balance and efficiency.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization also called the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 European states and North America countries seeking to achieve the goal of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington on 4 April 1949.
NATO’s gender equality policy also has a long history and is well structured. Since 1961, NATO Senior Officers have organized conferences to discuss the status, organization, employment and career opportunities for women in the Alliance.
In 1976, the Military Committee officially recognized the value of gender integration by establishing the Committee on Women in the NATO Forces (CWINF). Its current name is NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives.
In 1998, a permanent Office on Women in the NATO’s Forces was established to provide information on gender and diversity to support CWINF operation. Its current name is the Office of the Gender Adviser (IMS GENAD), which reports directly to the Director General of the International Military Staff (DGIMS) and provides information and advice on gender issues, including the effective implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 and related decrees. In May 2009, the mandate of CWINF was extended to support gender mainstreaming in NATO’s military operations, in particular to support the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and related resolutions. The basic document that defines the directions and forms of gender policy implementation within NATO is the Strategic Command Directive (Bi-SCD) 40-1 of September 2, 2009.
Over the past two decades, the percentage of women in the armed forces has increased in many countries. More recently, military agencies in a number of countries have adopted gender strategies or signed national action plans on women, peace and security. Some of these activities include the following:
Most of the countries undertaking these measures are NATO countries.
In 2000, only 5 countries in the North Atlantic Alliance announced the development of specific policies and laws on the service of women in the armed forces.
By 2013, similar policies had been adopted in all 28 NATO countries.
By comparison, in 2000, only six NATO countries exercised the same military service admission process for women and men.
By 2013, all NATO members had introduced this option, although in several countries some positions remained inaccessible to women, especially in battle posts, submarines and tank troops.
Project Women in Defense of Peace and Security is implemented by the NGO Gender Culture Centre with the support of the PWAG International Network and the Kharkiv Regional Foundation Public Alternative.
