OSCE, Institute of Inclusive Security launch new guide on how including women in peace processes leads to sustainable security

Closing gender gaps in political participation and including women in the peace process leads to sustainable security, said Miki Jacevic, Vice Chair of the Institute of Inclusive Security, which together with the OSCE Gender Section launched a new publication in Vienna on 18 January 2017 on developing results-oriented national action plans on women, peace and security.

The publication, Designing Inclusive Strategies for Sustainable Security: Results-Oriented National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security, presents the key results and lessons learned from the first joint National Action Plan Academy which was held in Vienna in September. That event brought together governmental and civil society representatives to share best practices on creating and implementing National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security.

“The evidence shows that peace and security processes achieve better results when women are involved,” said Paul Bekkers, Director of the Office of the OSCE Secretary General, at the publication launch. He emphasized the importance of National Action Plan Academies and of the publication, which he said is a guide for OSCE participating States on how to include women in peace and security processes.

Samra Filipovic Hadziabdic, Director of Agency for Gender Equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, shared her positive experience as a participant of the NAP Academy and how she could successfully implement lessons learned in her work. “The knowledge which was shared by other participants during the National Action Plan Academy helped me and my colleagues in revising our own Plan. It is very important to put Plans into practice. They should not just stay on paper,” she said. 

Concluding, Jacevic said: “National Action Plans and related Academies are a vehicle for creating effective public policies of inclusion and of increased co-ordination between political actors. The inclusion of women in peace and security processes, building bridges and political will to implement National Action Plans will create a secure environment, not only for women, but for everyone.”

The Russian translation of Designing Inclusive Strategies for Sustainable Security: Results-Oriented National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security is available here.