On June 3-4, 2024, in Sweden, the Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations held its annual NATO-approved Key Leader Seminar, centred on the integration of gender perspective in military missions, operations and activities. Attendees participated in a two-day programme aiming to increase NATO, Allies and Partners key leaders’ knowledge of how gender perspective can be used and integrated, at all levels, into the daily work, military decision-making, planning, execution and evaluation of military operations, in accordance with the UNSCR 1325, related resolutions on Women, Peace and Security and the NATO framework.
Objectives of the Seminar:
- Apply the gender perspective as an operational tool and force multiplier,
- Enable subordinate staff and units to integrate gender perspective into military missions and operations,
- Be able to practice a gender-integrated comprehensive approach when cooperating with external actors.
This year’s seminar was chaired by Lieutenant General Ingrid Gjerde, Chief of the Norwegian Defence Staff, on the theme ‘Gender-responsive Leadership in Multi-domain Operations’. It regrouped senior leaders, keynote speakers and experts from 14 nations, including, amongst many others, the Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine, HE Nataliia Kalmykova, the Chief of Defence Staff of Jamaica, Vice Admiral Antonette Wemyss-Gorman (who recently took over the chair of the Women, Peace and Security Chiefs of Defence network) and the NATO Director General of the International Military Staff, Lieutenant General Janusz Adamczak, from Poland, who shared his vision with the participants:
“As senior leaders, we have a responsibility first, to ensure that we understand what the gender perspective is ourselves […], then we must take responsibility for building understanding among our people, showing them how gender perspective relates to their specific roles or functions – from intelligence analysis of the battlespace, to resilience planning or cross-governmental stakeholders’ engagement”.
Based on experiences in past and current conflicts and crises, on academic research, on shared best practices and challenges, the attendees were first presented the Women, Peace and Security agenda and NATO connected framework, including the framework on the prevention and response to gender-based violence (including Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence). Then the lectures and discussions focused on explaining how the military operationalizes this framework through the systematic integration of gender perspective in all work strands (internally and externally), and on demonstrating its importance and military effects.
In support of the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation’s, General Philippe Lavigne, priority for 2024 to focus on the transformation of the NATO military instrument of power on achieving a Multi-Domain Operations-enabled Alliance, leadership and subject matter experts from the Allied Command Transformation participated in this year’s seminar. On June 3rd, Deputy Chief of Staff, Joint Force Development, Rear Admiral Placido Torresi, introduced the Command’s mission and core work strands, and then introduced the lecture provided on Multi-Domain Operations and the gender perspective. This lecture highlighted that both Multi-Domain Operations and gender perspective integration require complex and context specific analytics and expertise, to relevantly inform the military decision-making and planning, at speed of relevance, in order to enhance operational effectiveness and contribute to mission success.
Multi-Domain Operations is a transformative concept that seeks for NATO to orchestrate military activities across all operating domains and environments, while synchronized with non-military activities, to enable the Alliance to create desired effects at the right time and place, in a complex security environment. By 2030, NATO’s Digital Transformation will facilitate Multi-Domain Operations, ensuring interoperability, heightened situational awareness, and data-driven decision-making and planning.
The integration of gender perspective in all military missions, operations and activities is also transformative and mirrors the challenges of MDO, with the necessity of full integration, increased collaboration, coordination and sharing of information with a wide range of actors and stakeholders (military and non-military), and therefore its complexity. Reflecting people, behaviour and data centricity, and being an integral part of the comprehensive approach, the integration of gender perspective and gender analysis is continuous, cross-functional, cross-cutting, cross-levels and contributing to producing effects in possibly all of the domains (with a land and cyber dominance), all dimensions (with a physical and cognitive dominance) and all environments (human, information, workplace… and globally). In particular, the use of the gender advisory support and analysis capacity contributes to enhancing both the fighting power and operational effectiveness, therein creating effects which contribute to achieve, not only the political objectives of Women, Peace and Security in promoting gender equality, but also, when fully aligned with the commander’s intent and priorities, contributes to achieving the military strategic, operational and tactical objectives, to reach the desired end state.
The Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations is an international expert centre, NATO Department Head for the Gender in Military Operations Discipline and a NATO-accredited Education and Training Facility. The Centre was appointed the NATO department head for this Discipline in 2013, and its Key Leader Seminar received the NATO accreditation as a key leader training event the same year.
In addition, NATO’s Allied Command Transformation host annually its Gender Advisor Conference in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, including a Senior Leader Seminar, in order to increase understanding among both leadership and staff, and therefore facilitate the integration of the gender perspective into all warfare development activities.
More information about how Allied Command Transformation integrates gender perspective in military activities can be found on the ACT Gender Advisor webpage.
