Romanian-Canadian Seminar on the Women's participation in international missions took place on Wednesday, 24th November, at Henri Coanda Air Force Academy from Brasov, with the support of the Office for the Gender Equality Management from the MoND.

The activity was a reiteration of the particular importance Canada gives to the topic Women, peace and security, which was pointed out at the beginning of this year by the Canadian Ambassador to Romania, Annick Goulet, during the meeting she had with State Secretary for Defence Policy, Planning and International Relations, Simona Cojocaru, at the MoND headquarters.

The goal of the Romanian-Canadian Seminar was the training of the new generation with a view of eliminating the gender stereotypes and increase the number of women participating in foreign missions.

Within the seminar, the officials shared lessons learned, good practices and while military women of the Royal Canadian Air Forces, experienced in foreign missions, and of the MoND Office for the Gender Equality Management held allocutions.

The capacity to implement the gender issues at all levels in military operations increases directly proportional with the number of the women participating in the international missions. The more women will participate in international missions, the bigger requirements will be with regard to having more military women within the national defence systems, thus, representing a wide recruitment pool. The efforts to recruit, maintain, educate and develop military women are fundamental. In order to meet the requirements set at international level, the armed forces will have to make sure that the structures, functions and organizational culture specific to the military environment facilitate a prosperous working climate for both men and women. Although the gender issue is not the solution to all challenges posed by military operations, it represents a viable option that can lead to a better understanding of the situation and the achievement of the goals assumed through the international commitments for a more effective use of the military manpower. Commander Marius Serbeszki, the Commandant of Henri Coanda Air Force Academy from Brasov, said in his allocution held at the opening of the activity.

The Press Office