The Minister of National Defense unveiled on Tuesday the new Defense Sector Equality Plan 2022-2025, which aims to include the Office of Equality in the ministry’s organic law, but warned that decisions should not be made quickly.
“It is important to remember that there are no quick fixes to guarantee equality and that a comprehensive and long-term effort involving all stakeholders is needed. The National Defense is committed to doing its part and we know we have to lead by example,” defended Elena Karier.
The Minister of Defense spoke at the Cordoaria Nacional in Lisbon, where the Sectoral National Defense Plan for Equality, which will be applied until 2025, was presented, following the first sectoral plan in this area from 2019.
The document retains the four action lines from the previous plan (equality, reconciliation, learning and women, peace and security) and contains a total of 47 measures, including the inclusion of the Equality Authority in the organic law of the Ministry of National Defense. , being directly dependent on the ruler of the guardianship.
According to the document, the goal is to present a decree-law defining this new organic structure by the end of 2023.
In the previous sectoral plan, the gender adviser figure first appeared in the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the branches of the armed forces and the National Maritime Administration along with the offices of military commanders, and in this new plan the goal is for these functions to be performed “preferably full-time”.
Helena Carreiras highlighted two measures in her presentation: the first introduction of the concept of diversity, which is expressed in the preparation of a guide on best practices to promote diversity in recruitment and retention in the armed forces.
“On the other hand, we feel the need to harmonize the content that is taught in all military advancement courses, including the training of individual national forces and defense attachés, to ensure consistency and effectiveness of messages.” , he emphasized.
Include targets for promoting equality and gender mainstreaming in Department of Defense strategic documents or “revising classification and selection requirements for entry into the armed forces” “that allow selection parameters to be more appropriate to the tasks to be performed” in a consistent manner with the Military Professionalization Action Plan services (PAPSM), other measures.
The Ministry also intends to increase the participation of women in international operations and missions, in particular in the National Detachments.
The goal is to increase the “ratio between the number of women in isolated positions and the total number of soldiers in national separate elements” to 6% by 2025, with a target of 4% at the end of 2021.
The plan is structured around four pillars: institutionalizing gender, promoting equality and non-discrimination, encouraging women’s participation, and promoting reconciliation of professional, personal and family life and protection of rights in the upbringing of children.
Helena Carreiras recalled that between 2015 and 2021, the percentage of women in the armed forces rose from 11% to 13%, that there are currently four female generals in active service (two in the Air Force, one in the Navy and one in the Directorate). – General of National Defense Policy) and emphasized that Portugal is recognized in NATO as a “best practice example” for having a special plan dedicated to this topic and an office for equality.
“A defense policy that promotes gender equality and the Women, Peace and Security agenda is a policy that forces us to rethink how security is managed, which allows us to gain a decisive advantage over our adversaries,” he stressed.
The first Defense Equity Sector Plan 2019-2021 was announced in March 2019 by the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, and among the measures at that time was the creation of a Gender Adviser to the Chiefs. Highlighted among the military branches was the development of a code of conduct to prevent harassment or the use of non-discriminatory language in official documents and speeches.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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