GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN 2022
The following sections review how the Assembly has incorporated a gender perspective into its reports, resolutions and its meeting agendas. They also review other ways in which the Assembly helps raise awareness of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000) on WPS and supports its goals.
The year 2022 marked a radical shift in Euro-Atlantic security. With its unprovoked, renewed, full‑scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has brought war back on the European continent and violated the most fundamental principles of the rules-based international order. NATO has responded with unity and determination and, at the Madrid Summit in June, Allied Heads of State and Government agreed on a new Strategic Concept to guide the Alliance’s adaptation to today’s radically changed security environment.
Several Assembly reports and resolutions highlighted the importance of continuing to advance the goals of the WPS agenda throughout this period of profound upheaval and change.
The Assembly’s contribution to NATO’s new Strategic Concept urged Allied leaders to enshrine NATO’s commitment to the WPS agenda in the Strategic Concept. The “WPS agenda is an essential dimension of NATO’s role and contribution as an alliance of democracies”, it noted and called upon NATO to “keep effective implementation of the WPS agenda at the core of its work.” This must include leading by example and “do[ing] more to advance gender equality within its political and military structures, up to and including the highest levels of leadership.” NATO’s own Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, Irene Fellin, echoed these calls in her address at the Assembly’s spring session.
Irene Fellin, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, Vilnius, May 2022
Tomas Vasalek, Slovakia, PC General Rapporteur
These pleas were heard. The new Strategic Concept adopted in Madrid in June commits Allies to:
Integrate the Women, Peace and Security agenda across all our tasks and continue to advance gender equality as a reflection of our values.
Resolution 479 on NATO Post-Madrid now urges Allies “to sustain the momentum.” The resolution’s author, Tomas Valasek (Slovakia), adds in his report on NATO’s adaptation that the “full empowerment of women – half of humanity – is crucial for durable peace and security.”
Declaration 474 on Standing with Ukraine, adopted at the Assembly’s spring session in Vilnius in May, which condemns in the strongest terms Russia’s unprovoked and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, expresses the Assembly’s deep concern “about the increased risks faced by the most vulnerable groups in times of conflict, in particular women and children, including the risk of sexual violence and human trafficking.”
Mainstreaming of gender considerations
NATO PA members mainstreamed gender considerations and perspectives in several reports dealing with a broad range of Alliance priorities.
Linda Sanchez, United States, CDS Special Rapporteur
Linda Sanchez’ (United States) report on the resilience of Allied societies to climate change notes that “climate change disproportionately impacts women and girls.” She urges Allies to integrate gender considerations in the climate change agenda. In particular, they should “do more to empower civil society actors working on climate change resilience and civil preparedness with women, racial and ethnic minorities, and indigenous communities.”
Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam’s (France) report on enhancing the cyber-resilience of Allied societies exhorts Allies to “adopt concrete measures to address the current gender gap in the cyber defence community.”
Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam, France, CDS General Rapporteur
Ahmet Yildiz, Türkiye, PCTR Rapporteur
Ahmet Yildiz’ (Türkiye) report on the situation in Afghanistan laments that “Taliban restrictions are choking off access to schooling and professional life for women and girls.”
In turn, Rodrigue Demeuse’s (Belgium) report on preserving the humanitarian space in conflict regrets that the Taliban’s “obscurantist decisions” mean that “providing greater support for humanitarian action in the country remains unthinkable as long as the regime does not offer guarantees concerning the preservation of human rights advances from the past 20 years, particularly those of women.”
Rodrigue Demeuse, Belgium, CDSRCS Rapporteur
Michal Szczerba, Poland, ESCTD Rapporteur
Michal Szczerba’s (Poland) report on the Western Balkans laments that “women in the Western Balkans have some of the lowest labour market participation rates in Europe”, which “imposes serious costs on the region and undermines its economic and democratic progress.”
A report originally authored by Luca Frusone (Italy) on migration challenges notes that “the Alliance has recognised that armed conflict and related factors of gender inequality, political instability, and poverty can dramatically increase the number of displaced and impoverished people, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and forced migration.”
Luca Frusone, Italy, former GSM Rapporteur
Gender-related topics were also integrated into Assembly activities. For example, during a visit to the Netherlands, members discussed the country’s efforts to advance the WPS agenda. The Rose-Roth seminar in Pristina also highlighted Kosovo’s progress in promoting women’s role and participation in the security sector.
CDS and PCTR visit to The Netherlands, May 2022
Rose-Roth Seminar in Pristina, October 2022
During the annual session in Madrid in November, the Head of the Spanish delegation, Zaida Cantera, hosted a discussion for women members of the Assembly on the role of women in defence and security.
In 2021, the Assembly took an important step to support the aims and goals of the WPS agenda by creating a Women for Peace and Security Award. The purpose of this prize, which is awarded in consultation with the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, is to honour a woman who has demonstrated, in the context of political, diplomatic, military, associative and/or academic functions, a particular and recognised commitment to:
1
Equal participation of women and men in the field of peace and security
2
The prevention of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence and the protection of women in conflict situations
3
And/or the mainstreaming of women's needs and perspectives into relief and recovery initiatives in post-conflict countries
With this award, the Assembly hopes to fight prejudice and taboos by highlighting the crucial work of women in the political, diplomatic, military, associative and academic fields in favour of peace and security – women, who through their successes, may serve as role models and inspire others.
For the second edition of the award in 2022, NATO PA delegations submitted six nominations. The prize was awarded to Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, during the Assembly’s annual session in Madrid, Spain in November 2022. She accepted the award on behalf of all Ukrainian women “who are making every possible effort to protect their country, their families, lives and everything we believe in from Russian invaders.”
The Assembly can also support the participation of women in defence and security – one objective of the WPS agenda – through the choice of guest speakers it invites to its meetings. Quality is naturally the primary criterion for selecting these experts, but the Assembly has sought over the years – with mixed results – to invite more female speakers with equivalent levels of expertise.
Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Madrid, November 2022
I accept this Award on behalf of all Ukrainian women who are making every possible effort to protect their country, their families, lives and everything we believe in from Russian invaders.
The data below looks at the percentage of women speakers at NATO PA meetings (seminars and sessions) over the past seven years. It focuses on independent experts only, as the Assembly has little or no leverage over the choice (and gender) of official speakers. Data varies widely from year to year. However, 2022 was undeniably in the lower range, with the second-lowest number since this statistics has been tracked.
YEAR
PERCENT OF WOMEN INDEPENDENT SPEAKERS
TOTAL SPEAKERS
2022
20%
40
2021
33.3 %
54
2020
54.5%
11
2019
27%
48
2018
23%
65
2017
25.3%
75
2016
14.3%
63
Throughout 2022, the International Secretariat continued to give more visibility to the work related to gender and security within the dedicated section on its website and across its social media channels, including through a campaign on International Women’s Day. Since 2021, it has also published an enhanced, more reader-friendly web version of the annual review of gender in the NATO PA.
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