The topic of this year’s meeting, attended by representatives of the Western Balkans parliamentary committees in charge of defence and security, was “Human rights and gender equality in the defence and security sector”.

As an autochthonous regional parliamentary cooperation initiative, Cetinje Parliamentary Forum provides a quality form of dialogue on all topics important for the reform of the security sector in the region, and this year’s focus on human rights and gender equality of defence and security sector personnel was recognised as a key element of the reform processes in all the countries of the region, which was unanimously noted in the joint declaration adopted at the end of the meeting.

One of the sessions, dedicated to regional experiences relating to the improvement of human rights in the defence and security sector, gave the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee delegation the opportunity to stress that the Republic of Serbia urges that the provisions of item 32 of the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security be followed and applied in the regulation of the rights of security sector personnel, making sure that they are afforded all basic human rights and freedoms in line with international law and service requirements. The Committee delegation presented the legislative framework for human rights protection and Serbia’s efforts to promote and boost the participation of women at all levels and in all mechanisms of conflict prevention, management and resolution, primarily through the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 - Women, Peace and Security in the Republic of Serbia (2010-2015).