NATO and Partners Set Priority Actions on Women, Peace and Security

NATO and its partners from the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) on Wednesday (25 June 2014) released, for the first time, an Action Plan for the implementation of the NATO/EAPC Policy on Women, Peace and Security. The intent is to reduce barriers for the active and meaningful participation of women in defence and security institutions, operations, missions and crisis management.

Key action areas include the further integration of a gender perspective in the areas of arms control, building integrity, children in armed conflict, counter-terrorism and human trafficking. This will be complemented by the development of military guidelines and appropriate reporting mechanisms to prevent and mitigate conflict related sexual and gender-based violence. Special emphasis is also placed on the integration of women, peace and security priorities as part of existing partnership programs and mechanisms.

The document was endorsed NATO Foreign Ministers earlier that same day. Afghanistan, Australia, Japan, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates participated actively in the development of the Action Plan. New Zealand associated itself with this effort. For the first time, civil society also had the opportunity to contribute to the development of the Action Plan. Consultations were held in Brussels on 2 June 2014 and included civil society participation from 27 countries including the Women in International Security (WIIS) and the European Network of Non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan (ENNA).

The Action Plan covers a period of two years ending in June 2016.

This press release has been originally published on NATO.org.

To download the action plan, please click here.

Photo courtesy of NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan.