UN Women and EUFOR promote gender equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina

To mark International Women’s Day, UN Women and the EUFOR Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina released two videos to promote gender equality in the armed forces and in the society at large. The videos, Women, Peace and Security, and HeForShe, star female and male military staff from both EUFOR and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both videos stress the indispensable need to include women in military undertakings – and throughout society.

“Whatever their gender, the military of all ranks should be valued for their professionalism, loyalty and commitment to public service. EUFOR’s Mission continues to strive for gender equality at all levels,” said EUFOR Commander Johann Luif.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a signatory to UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on women, peace and security, which requires parties in a conflict to prevent violations of women's rights, to support women's participation in peace negotiations and in post-conflict reconstruction, and to protect women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict.

Gender equality is an integral part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include ending discrimination and violence against women and girls and ensuring equal participation and opportunities for all.

This year’s International Women’s Day is the first within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Getting women at all levels to work together with boys and men to build strong societies and healthy economies is critical to the SDGs’ success.

Recognizing this, the UN Women’s HeForShe campaign provides a platform that calls on boys and men to act as agents of change and begin a dialogue supporting gender equality. UN Women encourages people in Bosnia and Herzegovina to become active in speaking up for women’s and girl’s equal rights and sign up to the HeForShe campaign here: https://www.heforshe.org/

“HeForShe calls on men and boys from all over the world to take concrete actions to advance gender equality and stop violence against women,” says Ms. Anne-Marie Esper Larsen, UN Women Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Boys and men can lead by example by treating women and men equally and by challenging gender stereotypes in all spheres of life.”