From 7 to 8 May 2025, RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation took part in the Annual Discipline Conference (ADC) on Gender in Military Operations (GMO), held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
The Conference, organized by the Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations (NCGM), gathered stakeholders within the discipline to review NATO-specific Education and Training (E&T) requirements and assess whether current programmes effectively meet those needs.
Igor Gabrić, Activity Manager in RACVIAC Security Sector Governance (SSG) Pillar, represented the Centre during the event, actively contributing to the dialogue on integrating gender perspectives into military operations and training systems. He joined fellow representatives from GMO solution-providing institutions—including PSOTC, CMDR COE, and NCGM—in a session concentrating on current opportunities and challenges in implementing gender-focused educational programs, presenting the work of RACVIAC that additionally covers gender perspectives.
RACVIAC has been consistently conducting the NATO-approved “Gender Training of the Trainers” Course since 2014, in partnership with the NCGM and the Croatian Armed Forces and with the support of its Members. It is a NATO-approved course enhanced through insights gained from previous training events. This two-week program is designed to equip instructors and trainers with the knowledge and skills to effectively plan, conduct, and evaluate education, training, and exercises focused on integrating the gender perspective within their respective functional areas.
The Annual Discipline Conference agenda covered a wide range of topics, including updates on NATO’s latest GMO requirements and needs from the Requirements Authority, developments in the Global Programming framework affecting the GMO discipline, and the Department Head’s priorities from the previous year along with suggested priorities for the coming year. Discussions also included policy updates on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) within NATO, opportunities and challenges presented by new technologies in Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) and GMO, and highlights from the NCGP Annual Conference relevant to the GMO discipline. Additionally, an update was provided on a new Gender and Counter-Terrorism course from COE-DAT. The Conference further explored the opportunities and challenges facing existing GMO solution-providers such as PSOTC, CMDR COE, RACVIAC, and NCGM, as well as the cross-cutting aspects of GMO and WPS, particularly how the discipline’s efforts integrate with other areas. The final discussions centered on clarifying National vs NATO/Global Programming responsibilities in education and training standards for GMO and WPS.
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RACVIAC participation in the Annual Discipline Conference underscores its strong commitment to advancing gender equality and promoting equal opportunities within the security sector. To date, RACVIAC has trained over 200 gender instructors across South East Europe and beyond and continues to offer a deployable Mobile Team capability, enabling the delivery of the Course to a broader range of participants.
