National Action Plan 1325:
Croatia is currently in the phase of implementing the second Action Plan 1325 on women, peace and security for the period 2019-2023. In November 2021, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs published its first report on the implementation of the National Action Plan 1325 for 2019 and 2020.
Participation of women in the MoDs and the Armed Forces:
According to the statement of Deputy Chief of General Staff, Major General Siniša Jurković,1 women currently make up 14.6% of employees in the Croatian Army. This is an increase compared to 2020, when they made up 13% of the active military personnel.2 Given the statistics, Croatia will soon meet the NATO standard of 15% of female uniformed personnel in the armed forces. In addition, Croatia is one of the countries in the region with the highest percentage of women in the ranks of officers, as well as non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and professional soldiers. According to the available data from 2020, the share of female officers is 19.19%, of non-commissioned officers – 10.84%, and of female soldiers – 11.49%.3 In 2020, the share of women among civil servants and employees in the MoD was 50.2%.4
Representation of women in command and leadership positions:
In 2021, Croatian Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Major General Siniša Jurković, said that the number of women in command and leadership positions was unsatisfactory.5 In 2020, 36.4% of women held leading positions in the MoD, while 10.4% held command positions in the Croatian Army.6 According to MFA’s progress report on NAP 1325 implementation, the share of women exercising command and managerial posts in the MoD and in the CAF in 2020 was 11.59%, which was an increase compared to 2019 (10.95%).7 The number of women with the rank of general has stagnated since 2017, with one woman Brigadier General8 among the total of 30, which is a share of 3.33%. Among the senior officers with the rank of brigadier, women comprise 6.73% (there are 23 of them). A total of 13.7% of women were promoted to a higher rank in 2020.9
Participation of women in peacekeeping operations:
Despite being a member of NATO and the EU, Croatia has the lowest participation of women in international operations. Representation of women from the Croatian Armed Forces in the international (UN, NATO and EU-led) missions and operations was 5.83% in 2020 (54 women), showing a slight decrease compared to 2019.10 Regardless, in December 2020 the Croatian Ministry of Defence informed NATO that it had achieved the required gender balance target in its peacekeeping operations.11
- “VIDEO: Final conference of the project “Women’s Empowerment and Support in the Military Forces and Peacekeeping Missions of the Republic of Croatia”, Ministry of the Interior, 25 October 2021, https://www.zeneimediji.hr/zene-u-vojnim-snagama-i-mirovnim-misijama-rh-analiza-polozaja-zena-u-sustavu-oruzanih-snaga/
- Ministry of the Interior, Analysis of the position of women in the military forces and peacekeeping missions of the Republic of Croatia, 2021, https://mup.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/2021/10/Projekt%20Osna%C5%BEivanje%20%C5%BEena-%202510.2021/BrosuraFinal.pdf
- Ibid, p. 8
- Ibid, p. 8
- “VIDEO: Final conference of the project “Women’s Empowerment and Support in the Military Forces and Peacekeeping Missions of the Republic of Croatia”, Ministry of the Interior, 25 October 2021
- Analysis of the position of women in the military forces and peacekeeping missions of the Republic of Croatia, 2021, p. 8
- Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Report on the implementation of the National Action Plan for the implementation
of the Resolution of the United Nations Security Council 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, and related resolutions for the period 2019-2023, for 2019 and 2020 - “Women in the Croatian Armed Forces – pride and prejudice”, Women and the media, https://www.zeneimediji.hr/zene-u-oruzanim-snagama-rh-ponos-i-predrasude/
- Ibid, page 8
- Analysis of the position of women in the military forces and peacekeeping missions of the Republic of Croatia, 2021.
- NATO statistics, https://www.globalwps.org/details/HRV