Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Brankica Janković, participated in the Regional Conference of the Network of Women in the Police on the topic “Police challenges in post-covid conditions and the role of women in the Security Sector”, organized by the Network of Women in the Police of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with the OSCE Mission in Serbia.

“The participation and cooperation of women in all areas are necessary in order to ensure a more complete range of activities to improve the safety of women in society and their position on the whole”, said the Commissioner and emphasized that the efficient and functional Network of Women in the Police is a strong ally in the fight for gender equality.

“The effective functioning of the Network of Women in the Police is of key importance for the implementation of the “Women, Peace and Security” Agenda and for the National Action Plan for the implementation of Resolution 1325 of the UNSC, whose validity expired in 2020. This is why the drafting of the Third National Action Plan must not be delayed, as it will have the key task of preserving the achieved results and at the same time offer a new impetus, taking into account the lessons from previous plans, but also the challenges we encountered and will continue to encounter”, Janković added.

The Commissioner announced that on December 7, an independent Report on Monitoring the Implementation of the National Action Plan, prepared by the Office of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, will be presented.

The goal of the Regional Conference of the Network of Women in the Police was to exchange experiences in the work of these types of networks at the regional and European level, as well as to discuss how to overcome challenges in the roles and work processes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the role of women in the security sector.

Minister of the Interior, Bratislav Gašić, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia, Sarah Groen, President of the European Network of Women in the Police, Montserrat Pina Martinez, and President of the Network of Women in the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Tatjana Vetro, also spoke at the conference.