25 May 2008 - MORE WOMEN ON THE FRONT LINES

Chaired by Senator Jane Cordy, the discussion had the aim of drawing the attention of the parliamentarians to the need to boost the presence of women on the front lines of peacekeeping missions. In the view of Charlotte Isaksson, a specialist in this issue in the Swedish army, taking gender into account is an essential step in the preparatory phase of any military deployment. Too many operations already under way lack an “overall vision” and the question of women is still very often neglected in the drawing up of operational plans. However in practice, the speaker observed that there was a more marked awareness in the   chains of command of how essential it was to have women in the troops. Women obtain “better results” not only when talking to women and girls on the ground but also when dealing with the natural hostility of the local populations with regard to foreign armed troops. She cited the repeated calls by General Patrick Nash of Ireland, Commander of EUFOR Chad-CAR, for more women to be deployed on the ground. In the Congo as well, where Ms Isaksson was an adviser to EUFOR, the officers had come to realize the importance of a female presence within the armed forces. A large number of training exercises were organized and the number of female military personnel on the ground increased.    

The speaker stressed that, despite the ongoing shortfalls and thanks to these training  exercises, senior officers have become aware of the implications of this issue and have acquired a better understanding of United Nations resolution 1325. It will be recalled that this resolution mentions explicitly the effects of armed conflicts on women and girls and highlights the importance of the participation of women in peace processes.

Taking a pragmatic approach, Anja Ebnoether, Deputy Director at the DCAF (Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, Geneva ) presented a number of documents published by the DCAF, intended to improve understanding of the gender issue and to adapt this concept to each post-conflict situation. She also described the enormous difficulties encountered in recruiting women into the Afghan National Police and the efforts of the international community to resolve the problem. She called on the parliamentarians present to spare no effort to make their own   assemblies aware of the need to establish policies within their country’s army on this issue. During the subsequent debate, reference was made to the difficulty of recruiting women, while at the same time attention was drawn to the efforts of Hungary, France and Spain, whose female enrolment numbers have doubled since the beginning of the millennium.