Page 23 - Coespu Magazine 2017-2

GENDER TRAINING: IT IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF SKILLS.

It was early 2014 when I first
visited CoESPU. I didn’t
know about CoESPU and its
activities yet, and I was
happy to discover the Centre.
I joined the opening
Ceremony of the first edition
of the “Gender and
Protection training”, and on
the same occasion I started
my collaboration as a trainer.
At that time I was working at
the Office of NATO’s
Secretary General as the
Gender Advisor of the
Special Representative on Ms. Irene Fellin
1
Women, Peace and Security . An interesting and extremely challenging job, in a traditionally male
dominated environment, where talking about gender issues has not always been the easiest thing to
do (but certainly the smartest), despite the fact that NATO had adopted a Policy on the
implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda (UNSCR 1325) already in
2
2007 .
Policies and practices do not
always go hand in hand.
During my assignment at NATO,
one of the core issues of our
activities was raising awareness
on the importance of training on
gender issues and increasing the
offer of pre-deployment training
both at national and international
level. Training for gender
equality and especially on the
3
principles of UNSCR 1325 and
related resolutions is an essential
aspect of all peacekeeping
operations. Not only it is a

1 http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_89583.htm
Mari Skåre was the NATO’s Secretary General Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security from September
2012 to September 2014
2
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_91091.htm
3
http://www.peacewomen.org/SCR-1325

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