Marković: The Ministry of Defense and the Army of Montenegro provide the same career opportunities for both sexes

The Ministry of Defense and the Army of Montenegro (MCG) are continuously working to affirm gender equality, providing the same career opportunities for both sexes, said the State Secretary in the Ministry, Marko Marković.

At the "Women in the Security Sector" conference, he said that the implementation of gender balance in employment, increasing the representation of women in decision-making positions in the defense sector, but also in missions and military-diplomatic representations, are foreseen by several documents and laws.

Among those documents, as he clarified, is the Strategy for the Implementation of Resolution 1325 of the United Nations Security Council (UN) "Women, Peace and Security".

"The first female officer was accepted into the service in 2008, and now we have the first lieutenant colonel of the VCG," said Marković.

He stated that the Montenegrin security sector closely follows the recommendations of the UN Resolution, both in the Ministry, where 52,75 percent of women work, and in the Army, where women make up 15,51 percent of its total composition.

Marković emphasized that women are the target group towards which special measures are directed in order to strengthen the principles of gender equality and equal opportunities both by the Ministry of Defense and the Croatian Ministry of Defense.

"Improving working conditions, training leaders and command staff in cooperation with UNDP SEESAC, setting internal goals, strengthening awareness of gender equality, preventing gender discrimination, researching employee satisfaction and evaluating gender-sensitive policies, are some of the measures that are being tried to further improve the position of women in VCG", said Marković.

Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Jadranka Vojinović emphasized that work in the defense sector is full of high challenges, in which women's abilities to lead changes and innovations are recognized.

She added that within the Ministry of Defense, the culture of equal opportunities enabled open communication and cooperation regardless of gender.

Sanja Pejović, Acting Head of the Office of the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Army, said that women leaders bring a unique perspective to the security sector, empathy, analytical and responsibility, thus creating a more effective approach in crisis situations.

The conference, on the eve of the 24th anniversary since the United Nations Security Council adopted the resolution "Women, peace and security", was organized in Podgorica by the Association of Security Managers of Montenegro.

Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Police Directorate, the Police Academy and the Civil Aviation Agency also took part in the conference.