On 5 April 2019 a round table on the contribution of women to peace support operations was held in the Army Hall, Sarajevo, in cooperation with the Ministries of Security and Defence.
Female members of the Armed Forces of BiH and BiH Police Forces serve in peace keeping missions abroad along with their male colleagues from different countries and make substantive contributions to peacekeeping operations worldwide. Female peacekeepers have access to population groups and venues that might be closed to men, thereby improving awareness regarding potential security risks.
Keynote addresses were delivered by Dragan Mektić, Minister of Security of BiH, Major General Martin Dorfer, Commander EUFOR, Brigadier General Mirsad Ahmic, General Inspector of the Armed Forces of BiH (AFBiH) and Samra Filipović-Hadžiabdić, Directoress of the BiH Gender Agency. Afterwards panels discussed women from AFBiH and female police officers from BiH participating in peace support operations. One of the panellists was Lieutenant Narida Gerber, a member of EUFOR Operation Althea.
The Ministries of Security and Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina invest significant efforts into increasing the number of female members of Police agencies and Armed Forces BiH deploying with BiH contingents to Peace Support Operations (PSO).
Commander EUFOR, Major General Martin Dorfer said: "As a commanding officer of a Peace Support Operation I firmly believe that women's participation in security forces significantly contributes to dispute resolution. Female police and military officers provide diverse means towards de-escalation of tensions and building of trust with communities, thereby advancing stability and rule of law."
UNSC Resolutions under the Women, Peace and Security umbrella remind that peace processes must be representative of the civilian population affected, and this means not only the presence of women at the negotiating table but adequate diversity within Peace Support Operations personnel. It is our job as military and security forces to ensure that we are aware of these issues and able to respond accordingly. At the same time it is the obligation of commanders to ensure that women are closely involved in the decision making process, that women are visible in Peace Support Missions and that their concerns are heard, reflected and acted upon.
Major General Dorfer concluded: "I believe that today's event will make a tangible difference to the numbers of women contributing to Peace Support Operations; everyone's individual contributions today are highly valued and crucial. We heavily rely on military and police women working side by side with men in order to achieve success and to ensure that heterogeneous members of a mission become one effective team in Peace Support Operations."
COMEUFOR, Major General Martin Dorfer
Okrugli sto: Doprinos žena operacijama podrške miru
Dana 5. aprila 2019. godine održan je okrugli sto na temu doprinosa žena operacijama podrške miru u Domu Oružanih snaga u Sarajevu, u saradnji sa ministarstvima sigurnosti i odbrane.
Pripadnice Oružanih snaga Bosne i Hercegovine i policijskih snaga služe u mirovnim misijama u inostranstvu zajedno sa svojim muškim kolegama iz različitih zemalja i daju značajan doprinos mirovnim operacijama diljem svijeta. Žene mirovnjaci imaju pristup društvenim grupama i mjestima kojima muškarci možda nemaju pristup, čime se unapređuje informiranost o mogućim sigurnosnim rizicima.
Glavni uvodničari su bili Dragan Mektić, ministar sigurnosti BiH, general-major Martin Dorfer, komandant EUFOR-a, brigadni general Mirsad Ahmić, generalni inspektor OS BiH, i Samra Filipović-Hadžiabdić, direktorica Agencije za ravnopravnost spolova BiH. Nakon uvodnih obraćanja razgovaralo se o pripadnicama OSBiH i policijskih agencija u BiH koje učestvuju u operacijama podrške miru. Jedna od učesnica panela bila je i poručnica Narida Gerber, pripadnica EUFOR-ove misije Althea.
Ministarstva sigurnosti i odbrane Bosne i Hercegovine čine značajne napore po pitanju povećanja broja pripadnica iz policijskih agencija i oružanih snaga BiH-e koje se upućuju u BiH kontingente u operacije podrške miru.
Komandant EUFOR-a general-major Martin Dorfer: "Kao komandant operacije podrške miru, čvrsto vjerujem da učešće žena u sigurnosnim snagama značajno doprinosi rješavanju sporova. Pripadnice oružanih i policijskih snaga daju različite doprinose deeskalaciji tenzija i izgradnji povjerenja unutar zajednica, čime se unapređuju stabilnost i vladavina zakona."
Rezolucije Vijeća sigurnosti Ujedinjenih Naroda koje se tiču žena, mira i sigurnosti nas podsjećaju da mirovni procesi moraju reflektirati civilnu populacija koja je pogođena, a to znači ne samo prisustvo žena za pregovaračkim stolom, već i adekvatnu zastupljenost u personalu koji se upućuje u operacije podrške miru. Posao sigurnosnih i vojnih snaga je da budemo svjesni toga i sposobni da adekvatno odgovorimo. Istovremeno, obaveza je komandanata da osiguraju da su žene uključene u proces donošenja odluka, da su prisutne u misijama podrške miru i da se njihovi glasovi čuju, uzmu u obzir i da se na osnovu njih djeluje.
General-major Dorfer je za kraj rekao: "Vjerujem da će današnji događaj rezultirati opipljivom razlikom po pitanju broja žena koje doprinose operacijama podrške miru; doprinosi svakoga od vas danas su bitni i vrijedni poštovanja. U velikoj mjeri se oslanjamo na pripadnice vojnih i policijskih snaga koje rade rame uz rame sa svojim kolegama da bi postigli uspjeh i da bi osigurali da raznorodni pripadnici misije postanu jedan učinkoviti tim u operacijama podrške miru.
