IMS Office of the Gender Advisor
From leadership to troops on the ground, integrating the gender perspective and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the military is an essential component of NATO’s common values and operational effectiveness.
WHY:
Advancing gender equality supports NATO and its military forces in developing the diversity of qualifications and resources required to respond to threats in the changing security environment. Integrating the gender perspective into all aspects of NATO activities and operations enhances the effectiveness of NATO’s Deterrence and Defence.
NATO’s 2024 Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Policy is inspired by the global WPS Agenda and is tailored to NATO’s mandate and mission. It outlined four strategic objectives for the Alliance:
- Gender-Responsive Leadership and Accountability
- Participation
- Prevention
- Protection
NATO’s WPS Policy ensures that gender advisors are involved in decision-making processes across the NATO Military Authorities and supports the NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives (NCGP) work to continue to advance efforts to integrate gender perspective and promote gender mainstreaming across the operational spectrum.
WHO:
The Office of the Gender Advisor
The International Military Staff Office of the Gender Advisor (IMS GENAD) supports the operationalization of gender by providing strategic advice on the implementation of the WPS Agenda at NATO and by supporting the integration of the gender perspective into NATO missions, operations and activities.
The IMS GENAD reports directly to the Director General of the International Military Staff (DGIMS) and provides advice and support to senior NATO military leadership, as well as advice to the Secretary General’s Special Representative for WPS on the military implications of gender, human security and the effective implementation of WPS. The IMS GENAD serves as the Secretariat to the NCGP and provides administrative support and advice to the NCGP Chair.
The gender perspective is the ability to detect if and when men, women, boys and girls are being affected differently by a situation due to their gender. Gender perspective takes into consideration how a particular situation impacts the needs of men, women, boys and girls, and if and how activities affect them differently.
Gender equality is the state in which there are equal rights, responsibilities, opportunities and access for men, women, boys and girls.
Gender mainstreaming is a strategy used to achieve gender equality by assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, in all areas and at all levels, in order to assure that the concerns and experiences of both sexes are taken into account.
The IMS GENAD increases awareness of the gender perspective across the Alliance and offers advice and support on integrating gender into the development of various cross-cutting policies. Additionally, the Office provides subject matter expertise on the military implications of NATO’s Human Security Agenda. The Office facilitates dialogue and cooperates with other NATO entities, international organizations and agencies regarding the integration of the gender into military planning and operations. The IMS GENAD collects and disseminates information on the national policies and best practices relating to the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and related Resolutions in NATO member and partner nations’ armed forces as part of the Summary of National Reports (SNR) to the NCGP.
NATO Committee on Gender Perspective (NCGP)
The NCGP promotes gender mainstreaming and the integration of the gender perspective in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programmes and military operations. Through its programme of work, the NCGP advises the NATO Military Committee on gender-related topics to enhance operational effectiveness, in support of Alliance objectives across the core tasks.
The NCGP hosts an Annual Conference as a forum for Allied and Partner Nations, as well as the wider Community of Interest, to exchange information on gender-related policies and gender mainstreaming. Additionally, the IMS GENAD Office produces and delivers the SNR, NATO’s largest compilation of gender statistics of national militaries, to the NCGP.
The NCGP is governed by the Executive Committee which is composed of the Chair, four Deputy Chairs and the IMS Gender Advisor as the Secretariat. Each NATO member nation is represented in the Committee by an active duty officer of senior rank or civilian equivalent with relevant subject matter expertise on the latest developments in gender mainstreaming.
Milestones for the IMS GENAD and NCGP
- 1961: The first NATO Conference of Female Senior Officers of the Alliance took place in Copenhagen where the delegates adopt a resolution agreeing to hold future conferences at regular intervals.
- 1973: During the NATO Conference of Female Senior Officers, an ad hoc Committee on Women in the NATO Forces was formed. The ad hoc Committee adopted a resolution stating that women should have the opportunity to serve in all job specialities with the exception of combat subjected to national policy.
- 1976: The Military Committee (MC) endorsed formal recognition of the Committee on Women in the NATO Forces (CWINF) with MC 0249.
- 1985: The 57 representatives from 13 NATO countries completed MC 0249/1 and modified a resolution on the employment of women in the NATO Forces.
- 1998: The Office on Women in the NATO Forces (OWINF) was established within the International Military Staff (IMS) which provided the much needed continuity of the Committee's goals and objectives.
- 2000: The United Nations Security Council passed the ground-breaking Resolution 1325 which starts the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
- 2009: The CWINF Executive Committee (EC) agreed on MC 249/2 in order to expand the CWINF’s mandate to support the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and future related resolutions. The CWINF was also renamed to the “NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives” (NCGP) and OWINF to the “NATO Office on Gender Perspectives” (NOGP).
- 2014: MC 0249/3 was issued and the NOGP’s title was changed to the IMS Office of the Gender Advisor (IMS GENAD), reporting directly to the Director General of the IMS.
- 2023: The IMS Office of the GENAD celebrated its 25th Anniversary within NATO
- 2024: Key documents for the gender perspective were updated including NATO’s Women, Peace and Security Policy for the Washington Summit and the MC 0249/4 to more clearly outline the NCGP’s roles and responsibilities and establish a Programme of Work.