Role of women in security and defense discussed in Sofia

published on 7/11/12 10:52 AM

More than 90 senior officials from 21 NATO and Partnership for Peace countries joined the event at Kempinski-Zografski Hotel in Sofia

Photo: BТА

From 9 to 11 July Sofia played host to the first high-level conference under the project The Role of Women in Security and Defense. Bulgaria is a leading country on this project that features among NATO’s priorities as part of the Intelligent Defense Initiative. More than 90 senior officials from 21 NATO and Partnership for Peace countries joined the event. They discussed issues of strategic leadership, diversity of human resources in security and defense and the potential to increase operability. The debate was aimed at promoting high-level dialogue on boosting the involvement of women in the army and their contribution into peace and stability worldwide.

“I can vow that there is nothing like a glass ceiling in the Bulgarian armed forces that bars career growth of women”, Bulgarian Defense Minister Anyu Angelov said at the forum’s opening. He recalled the fact that in Bulgaria all legislative barriers had been lifted for the inclusion of women at all levels in the army. Currently, women in this country account for 14 percent of the Bulgarian Army staff. However, not more than 1.41 percent of them are military officers,” Anyu Angelov admitted.

Where do women perform best where the army is concerned?
“Practically they can perform quite well everywhere", Defense Minister Anyu Angelov said. "They can be pilots and generals, and they can be part of both strategic and operable units. We do have women officers even now. So, the gender makes no real difference in a military career in Bulgaria. What matters are the capabilities and the level of training. This is required from anybody, be them a man or woman. Indeed, for women we work to create a bit different conditions. For example, they have access to a longer maternity leave. To recap, all women’s rights are valid in the Army. Besides, there is absolutely no difference in the wages paid to men and women.”

What are the challenges that the fair sax has to face in the army?
“The very fact that we are holding such a conference at the strategic level speaks about the importance of this issue" Deputy Defense Minister Avgustina Tsvetkova explains. "Well, there are big opportunities for women. However, a few barriers are still in place. The point is that most people tend to think that the army is a male job. I believe that this conference will lay the beginnings of a very successful project and it is certainly one of NATO’s priorities. Bulgaria should be proud of being a leader in this regard.”

Is there a difference in the share of women in the army between Bulgaria and other NATO and Partnership for Peace countries? There is no big difference between Bulgaria and other NATO members, figures presented at the conference in Sofia suggest.

“This country has a decent share of women in the army for the current standards. In the US Army for example, they account for 14.6 percent of the staff”, Deputy Defense Minister Avgustina Tsvetkova specified.
She however added that Bulgaria is a good example with the abolition a year and a half ago, of all barriers for training of women at military schools, and they now have free access to all disciplines. More from Avgustina Tsvetkova about the relatively small share of women officers:
“The share of close to 1.5 percent of women officers in Bulgaria is small given our will but it is strongly dependent on education. Only recently, there have been new and big opportunities for training of women in military schools. To become officers women shall have to go through training that is about 3 years long on the average. So, I believe that in 5 to 6 years from now we will have a woman general or admiral: after all it is a matter of time only,” Deputy Defense Minister Avgustina Tsvetkova concludes.

Translated by Daniela Konstantinova

По публикацията работи: Tania Obretenova

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Role of women in security and defense discussed in Sofia

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