The attending were addressed by Zoran Djordjevic, Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Government’s Political Council for the execution of the National Action Plan (NAP) for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 - Women, Peace and Security in the Republic of Serbia (2016-2020), in office 2010-2015. Djordjevic said that the biggest achievement of the last five years was the increased visibility and role of women in the defence sector and the rising numbers of women in said sector. He said that a Working Group tasked with drafting the National Action Plan (2016-2020) was set up with the aim to bring the new plan closer to the public through public debate and include it in its drafting so as to come up with the best possible document. One of the new NAP’s objectives is to empower women in local self-governments.

Marija Obradovic, Chairperson of the National Assembly’s Commission Monitoring the Execution of the National Action Plan (2010-2015), said that ensuring an increased participation of women at all levels of government and in all sectors is of paramount importance for any democratic society, especially in those sectors that have traditionally been reserved for men such as defence and security.

“Equality of women and men is one of the tenets of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. The National Assembly has recognised this and contributed to the strengthening of the status of women best evidenced in the number of women MPs which has grown considerably in the last two legislatures”, said Obradovic. She stressed that the National Assembly’s Women’s Parliamentary Network has helped strengthen the status of women in the Republic of Serbia and would continue to pursue this goal in the future, hoping that their example would prompt women to participate more in political life at the local level.

Michael Uyehara, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, said he was pleased by the results of the National Action Plan in the last five years, adding that the drafting of the National Action Plan for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 - Women, Peace and Security in the Republic of Serbia (2016-2020) was a very complex process which would have been impossible without the state institutions’ cooperation with NGOs.

The Chairman, Predrag Perunicic, and members of the Government’s Working Group for the drafting of the NAP (2016-2020) then proceeded to present the Draft Action Plan, which was followed by a constructive discussion and presentation of the conclusions of the discussion.