NATO Annual Report on Gender Perspectives in Allied Armed Forces: progress made in pre-deployment training and work-life balance
The third edition of the Summary of the national reports to the NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives (NCGP) is a digest of the statistics and progress made, in 2016, by the 28 NATO members and 13 partners on the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
The summary’s purpose is to highlight the NATO-wide progress and share national approaches on the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and the integration of gender perspectives in the daily business of the armed forces. This year’s edition demonstrates that the representation of women in Allied armed forces has increased to 10.9%, reaching the highest representation since 1999. Women representation in NATO operations has increased to 6.8% from 6.4% in 2015.
There is a noticeable development in the integration of gender perspectives in military operations and work-life balance. In 2016, more than 96% of NATO member nations included gender in pre-deployment training and exercises compared to 92% in 2015, and 78% of Allies included gender in operational planning compared to 73% in 2015. Additionally, 74% of NATO member nations have trained gender advisors and 42.3% had gender focal points in 2016.
In 2016, 96.3% of NATO member nations had all positions open to women in the armed forces which is an 11.7% increase from the previous year and a 26% increase compared to 2014. Almost 67% of NATO member nations reported the use of special programmes or measures to support parents, when both enlisted, compared to 52% in 2015. There was also an increase in support for single parents, with regard to service duties, to almost 67% from 65% in 2015.
For the first time, the summary provides an overview of the national implementations of the 2015 and 2016 NCGP Recommendations to the NATO Military Committee.
By publishing this annual report, NATO aims to present its progress in the implementation of UNSCR 1325, related resolution principles and the gender perspective.