Civil society helps implementation of the NAP 1325 through a dialogue with the government

That the dialogue between civil society and government’s Multisectoral Coordination Body (MSCB) represents the beginning of more significant involvement of SCO in the implementation of NAP 1325, was the impression of participants of the conference organised by BCSP and MSCB on December 11^th 2012, in cooperation with the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society and support of UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN). 

At the opening of the conference, organised in the premises of the National Bank of Serbia, the State Secretary of Ministry of Defence, Zoran Djordjevic, emphasised that Serbia is among the first countries in the region that adopted implementation plan for NAP 1325, in the end of 2010, and one of the document’s goals is to achieve balanced participation of women in taking any position in the defence system. He pointed out that the dialogue should contribute to better understanding of gender equality and cooperation between state and civil society, that participates in the independent supervision of the process of implementation of NAP 1325.

State Secretary of Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Bozovic, stated that the Ministry of Internal Affairs doesn’t close its eyes to what hasn’t yet been done regarding NAP 1325, and pointed out that it is necessary to continue with working on implementation of NAP1325, with joint efforts, critical approach, but mutual trust and support as well.Bozovic added that it is necessary to establish the priorities in cooperation between state and civil society.

The Director of Office for Cooperation with Civil Society, Ivana Cirkovic, finds conference initiated by BCSP a formal beginning of establishing a transparent dialogue between civil society and the state in implementation of NAP 1325.

“Implementation of NAP 1325 is very important from the perspective of rule of law, and is one of the main priorities in continuing European integration process. This is why it is necessary to clearly define the principles of selecting the organisations that are relevant parameter for the state. On the other hand, civil society needs to understand better the system, so it could recognise its role in different processes” Cirovic explained.

The importance of cooperation of CSO and state institutions was also emphasised by the Director of UNWOMEN Office in Serbia, Asja Varbanova. She concluded that the independent supervision of implementation of NAP 1325 presents an opportunity for implementing the democratic principles of transparency and open performance of public institutions. She also pointed out that the agenda Women, peace and security is realised with the support of the Kingdom of Norway.

The greatest accomplishments in the implementation of NAP

President of Mulitsectoral Coordination Body (MSCB) for implementation of NAP 1325, Vesna Nikolic, the representative of Women in Black, Gordana Subotic, and researcher for BCSP, Gorana Odanovic, presented main conclusion of the report on the implementation of NAP 1325, created by these three organisations.

As greatest accomplishments, President of MSCB pointed out the fact that interdepartmental cooperation and communication among different institutions on the daily level have been established and that most of the bodies and mechanisms needed for the implementation of NAP have been created. She emphasised the importance of regular expert consultations of all actors in the process of implementing the resolution.

BCSP kept track of thematic sections of NAP, the participation of CSO in in the plan implementation and related media reporting. Gorana Odanovic stated that the biggest accomplishment was the creation of a body in charge of the implementation of NAP.

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The greatest challenges in NAP implementation

The president of Women in Black thinks that the greatest challenge is to recognise the role of women peace organisations in the NAP implementation, primarily through crossing the state borders and engaging with women organisations from B&H and Kosovo, that help peace building.

“What we need is not just declarative acceptance of international agreements, but an actual one. We implement the Resolution 1325, but have only two court verdicts for rape during the war”, Subotic stated.

She added that the priorities in the next period should be: inclusion of women organisations in the NAP implementation, accepting women organisations as equal partners and not the “enemies” and scaling NAP down to the local level.

On the other hand, BCSP Researcher Gorana Odanovic stated that among other great challenges of NAP she sees the fact that the document, that is gender equality policy, has never been a priority for the government. This is in great extent reflected on the financial resources allocated for the activities foreseen by NAP. 

As a priority in the next period, Odanovic pointed out the sequel of education of analitical groups and research teams, training of personnel management about NAP and analysis of challenges that women in security face, and not only through questionnaires, but through focus groups and in-depth interviews as well.

President of MSCB emphasized that Political Council and Supervisory Body of the Parliament, foreseen by the NAP, that are supposed to supervise the activities of MSCB.

“It wasn’t simple to incorporate everything that has been done in Ministry of International Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Security Information Agency and Customs Administration into the expected form. MSCB created two reports in a year period, which was expected, but it is still unknown who is the one to overview these reports”, said Nikolic.

President of MSCB pointed out that mechanisms such as adviser for gender equality, analytical groups and research teams have been created.  As priorities for MSCB, Nikolic stated the development of cooperation with independent state institutions, such as Commissioner for Protection of Equality and Ombudsman, and that special attention should be given to human resource management and tracking career development of women in the security sector.

The Director of BCSP, Sonja Stojanovic Gajic, stated at the end that it is still possible to see the state’s lack of willingness to cooperate with activist organizations, while more interest is shown in cooperation with research organizations and organization that provide certain services.

Open discussion on experiences and views was continued in work groups, where participants chose among three topics:

1. NAP 1325 and opportunities for cooperation between CSO and institutions in the Republic of Serbia

2. Gender violence and achieving goals determined in Chapter V of NAP

3. Multiple discrimination of marginalized groups and their protection/security