STO-Activities: (no title)
Activity title:
Gender, Inclusive Leadership and Sustainable Security
Activity Reference:
HFM-368
Panel:
HFM
Security Classification:
NATO UNCLASSIFIED
Status:
Active
Activity type:
RTG
Start date:
2024-03-06T00:00:00Z
Actual End date:
2027-03-06T00:00:00Z
Keywords:
conflict resolution, Gender, health and wellbeing, inclusive peace, interagency cooperation, intersectionality, leader development, LGBT+, military operations, multinational teams, personnel retention, security sector training, soft skills, sustainable security
Background:
One of the essential premises of the NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept is to implement the Women, Peace and Security agenda across all activities and advance gender equality as a reflection of its core values . Research conducted by the NATO STO Exploratory Team on Gender, Peace and Sustainable Security 2022-23 (ET-197) has provided evidence that although WPS directives, doctrinal and workplace solutions, policies or training proliferate in most NATO and Member Nations’ (MN) security and defense organizations , there is a discrepancy between the conceptual and regulatory domain versus the organizational dynamics and lived organizational experiences of gender minorities. We need additional, improved measures, steps, and solutions in MNs and NATO to ensure full, equal and meaningful participation of all genders at all levels and all stages of providing sustainable security. To this end, we state the following premises for our work:
1. We need a wide understanding of gender – that goes beyond women and extends to all gender minorities and LGBTQ+ personnel. It is necessary due to generational and cultural changes.
2. Inclusiveness and proper management of diversity is a prerequisite on the grounds of equity and organizational effectiveness, and serves as a force multiplier.
4. Intersectionality is a key element of gender mainstreaming. Gender intersects with sexual orientation, racial, religious, ethnic, national, economic and other factors to strongly influence the performance of multicultural and multiagency teams that currently constitute NATO and MN’s units.
5. Existing corporeal and medical policies and practices are overwhelmingly based on a default male model, which needs to be recognized, and broadened to include all genders.
6. Obstacles to career development for women need further exploring and addressing in terms of prospective remedies. This includes examining patterns of recruitment and retention, and the dynamics behind this, motivations of service among women, and critique of existing processes (maternity leaves, marital regulations for male and female members and other).
7. The specific problems experienced by women in top leadership positions demand further exploration and addressing in terms of prospective remedies.
8. Male personnel have a key role as allies that needs activation. Allyship is critical to fostering an inclusive culture and a powerful tool to advocate for gender equality and empowerment.
9. We need to change the narrative and terms that we use while speaking about gender empowerment in security and defense organizations.
Objectives:
1) To identify the foundational policies and organizational practices for sustainable and inclusive security and peace including reckoning with the interrelations, challenges and contradictions between gender mainstreaming and politico-military effectiveness of the Alliance.
2) To identify best practices in existing gender mainstreaming tools in member states that affect NATO’s collaboration and effectiveness.
3) To conduct a profound Gender Gap Analysis across MNs and NATO to spot critical organizational, social, physical, security, cultural, recruitment and any other intersectionalities that prevent gender equality and consequently hinder organizational effectiveness.
4) To recommend new tools that build on best practice and address the identified gaps.
Topics:
- NATO’s role in providing sustainable and inclusive security and peace now and in the future.
- Key gender theories, policies and practices from outside the security sector which could address the challenges within NATO.
- Identification of an optimal gendered structure and organizational culture of NATO.
- The impact of gender in all sections of the organization, at all levels. This includes the impact of gender on leadership both when it comes to national cultures, and while creating and commanding multinational units and interagency cooperation.
- Critical gender issues needed to be resolved for a transformational change and ways of addressing all the above cross-culturally in doctrine, organizational culture, training and education, and on mission.
Contact:
Open2Partners:
Title:
Created at 12/03/2024 14:00 by System Account
Last modified at 16/05/2024 11:00 by System Account
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