OSCE Centre in Astana supports involving women in security sector reforms

Ways of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) on women, peace and security in Kazakhstan was the topic of a National Consultative Meeting supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana on 23 April 2013.

High-level state officials, parliamentarians, representatives of non-governmental and international organizations as well as experts from Georgia and Kyrgyzstan discussed gender aspects of security sector reforms and best practices at this national consultative meeting.

The participants adopted a set of recommendations on developing the national action plan to implement the Security Council Resolution in Kazakhstan. These included establishing a national inter-departmental task force with involvement of civil society representatives to draft the action plan. 

In her speech, Head of the OSCE Centre Ambassador Natalia Zarudna stressed the importance of implementation of the resolution, which is one of the priorities of the OSCE’s 2013 Ukrainian Chairmanship. She briefed the participants on the experience of the OSCE participating States in implementing the resolution and proposed to use the guidebook Gender and Security Reform, published by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, for training law-enforcement, military and security officers in Kazakhstan. 

The event is part of the Centre’s longstanding efforts to support Kazakhstan in gender mainstreaming policy. It was supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana and the UN Women Sub-regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and organized by the National Commission for Women’s Affairs and Family Demographic Policy.