ARRC JOURNAL
aspect has to be considered in the early
planning stages of operations. Thus, it
is the duty of the HQ ARRC GENAD to
be involved in the working and planning
process from the beginning until the
end. He or she provides support through
“Women’s
participation in global
security isn’t a favour
to women. There
can be no lasting
peace without equal
inclusion of both men
and women.”
Secretary General Stoltenberg, 2016
specialised expertise, similar to the
political advisor (POLAD) and cultural
advisor (CULAD). This can, for instance,
take the form of contributions or annexes
to Operation Orders. These can deal with
everything from general gender aspects in
operations, sex desegregated reporting,
sexual and gender based violence as
well as the code of conduct in the area of
operation. Another aspect of their job is to
integrate women – who often participate
in conflicts to a significantly lesser
extent than men – into the post-conflict
peace and reconstruction process via
networking and inclusion measures. The
aim of integrating the gender aspect is to
expand the military sphere of influence
by gaining more information and a more
complete operational picture.
Gender in NATO Missions
Abroad
Current operations such as KFOR in
Kosovo and RSM in Afghanistan have
already seen the successful integration
of GENADs. While these positions are
manned by individual nations, they ensure
that NATO as a whole has integrated
the gender aspect into deployments.
Not every nation necessarily needs to
provide such a position. For example
during ARRC’s time as the NRF in 2017
Spanish, British, Italian, Czech and other
military units had to report to the HQ. All
those countries have trained GENADs,
as do 21 out of the 29 NATO member
states. Whether one of their GENADs
would actually be available in the event
of an operational deployment however,
could not be determined.
The number of women in theatre – or
rather the fact that there are female
soldiers available for NATO missions
at all – is important for many different
reasons. Depending on the mission
and the security situation, female
soldiers are needed and employed as
“female searchers”, as part of female
engagement teams (FET) or mixed
engagement teams (MET). Through the
inclusion of women, all measures can
contribute to a better understanding of
the operational environment and the
protection of forces.
The Integration of the Gender
Perspective at HQ ARRC
To guarantee that the gender perspective
is taken into account across the
whole HQ, all Branches have Gender
Focal Points (GFP). The GFPs act as
multipliers and sensors for the GENAD.
In addition to completing an online-
based NATO training programme, they
are offered courses on the subject of
“gender in operations” and learn what
to watch out for in their respective field.
They provide the GENAD with access
to their department and he or she can
benefit from their expertise. Together
they ensure that the military action taken
by the HQ incorporates the gender
perspective.
In its role as a Corps HQ, ARRC is
the highest tactical level of command.
Specific points of contact with the
population in theatre however are to be
found at lower levels of command. Ideally
and in the future, the HQ should further
intensify cooperation on gender issues
with its subordinate units. The network of
GENADs and GFPs must reach all the
way down to the lowest tactical level, in
A First - In May 2017 HQ ARRC hosted the 8th ACO Gender Conference. Mandated by SHAPE, this was the first time the conference was hosted by a Corps level HQ.
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