OSCE supports Ukrainian security sector through study visit on gender mentorship

The OSCE Transnational Threat Department and the Gender Issues Programme, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, organized a study visit to Skopje, North Macedonia, for participants from Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, the State Emergency Service and the National Police on 25 and 26 February.

During the visit, the Ukrainian delegation met the implementing team of the Gender Mentoring Programme in Police, implemented by the Police of North Macedonia and the OSCE Mission to Skopje, and gained a comprehensive understanding of the programme’s approach by engaging in tailored focus group discussions. They furthermore explored how the programme’s methodologies and lessons learned can be adapted to support women officers in their own institutions in Ukraine.

Beneficiaries of the study visit emphasized the importance of gender mentoring programmes in achieving gender equality. They stressed that after having learned from the experience of the Police of North Macedonia, they will implement first practical steps to successfully develop own gender mentoring programmes in the security sector in Ukraine.

The Mentoring Programme aims to help women police officers better orient themselves in a male-dominated working environment and identify opportunities for professional development as well as to challenge structural barriers, increase retention rates of female officers and encourage gender mainstreaming in the security sector.

This study visit, a pivotal step in fostering greater gender equality and professional development within law enforcement agencies in Ukraine, as funded through the WIN Project, implemented by the OSCE Gender Issues Programme.