''She Runs, He Runs, We Run'' – NATO HQ runners promote gender equality
The second edition of the “She Runs, He Runs, We Run” took place at NATO Headquarters on Saturday 13 May 2017. The run with a distance of exactly 13.25 km (8.2 miles) aimed to raise awareness of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and gender equality.
The leadership of NATO Headquarters was well represented among the 300 participants – different Allied nations’ Ambassadors and Military Representatives ran alongside directors of divisions and members of the International Staff and International Military Staff with their families.
“I believe in and I support gender equality. As I have said many times before, it is only by recruiting from the entire talent pool that we can assure that NATO is able to face any challenge. The reality is that we are stronger together, we are one NATO,” said General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, who was accompanied by General Jan Broeks, Director General of the International Military Staff.
On the same note, Marriët Schuurman, the former NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, said, “This run is a great opportunity to gather and demonstrate NATO’s continued work on gender equality. It has been my great honour to represent gender equality at NATO as special representative for the Women, Peace and Security agenda.”
The run to support women's empowerment and to break down gender stereotypes coincided with the 50th anniversary of the first woman officially to run a marathon. Katherine Switzer became the first woman to officially cross the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 1967. Her story inspired the originator of the solidarity run at NATO Headquarters, Anne Rosner, an interpreter at NATO who is President of the NATO Cultural and Sports Club and marathon runner. “She didn’t intend to stand up for women’s rights that day, she just wanted to run. Someone had to be the first and that day she decided she will finish for all the other women.”
NATO and its partners have made a long-term commitment to supporting the implementation of the principles of Resolution 1325 and related Resolutions – reaffirming the importance of women’s role in the prevention and resolution of armed conflict, in post-conflict reconstruction, peace negotiations, peace-building and peacekeeping as well as emphasising the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.