Minister of Defense, Anatol Salaru, Meets with Experts from the Institute for Inclusive Security

CHISINAU, December 3, 2015 — Minister of Defense, Anatol Salaru, met today with a group of experts from the Institute for Inclusive Security (IIS) from Washington DC, USA. The experts are paying a working visit to the Republic of Moldova in the framework of the implementation on national level of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

The officials discussed about the IIS mission and activity on gender equality, the projects implemented on international level, and the institution’s priorities.

The Minister of Defense reiterated the importance of the gender equality issue for our country and the necessity to promote this subject in the defense and security sector.

Anatol Salaru thanked the American experts for the availability to offer expertise and assistance in identifying the challenges and gaps in the gender equality sector, mentioning that this topic is an important part of the National Army reformation and modernization process. Minister Salaru expressed the confidence that the visit of the IIS representatives will be a first step in the development of the cooperation between the Ministry of Defense and the Institute for Inclusive Security from the USA.

The IIS experts in planning, implementation, and assessment of national action plans regarding women, peace, and security appreciated the interest of Moldovan government institutions and NGOs in assessing the situation of gender equality in the national defense and security sector. The experts’ team identified this issue as an essential stage in developing the National action plan regarding the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

Also today, the IIS representatives met with the Ministry’s of Defense Working Group responsible for the self-assessment on gender dimension in the national defense sector.

While in the Republic of Moldova, the IIS experts also met with representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Custom Service, involved in the inter-institutional self-assessment process, as well as with representatives of OSCE, IDC NATO, UN, and Gender-Centru.