CROATIA
Croatia’s second and latest WPS National Action Plan was released in 2019, covering the period 2019-2023
Objectives of the 2019-2023 NAP
- Strengthening the gender perspective through documents, international activities and communication with the public;
- Strengthening the gender perspective through training and education programmes;
- Introduction of gender balance in security and defence system activities;
- Increasing women's share in decision making activities and processes in the fields of security, defence and peace-making;
- Implementation of protection of women's rights, in particular victims of war suffering in the Republic of Croatia, in order to achieve their post-conflict recovery;
- Promoting the protection of women's and girls' rights, in particular victims of gender-based violence in conflicts;
- Focusing development cooperation on the protection and empowerment of women under the National Development Cooperation Strategy 2017-2021;
- Ensuring a gender sensitive approach in managing security risks from natural and technological disasters and terrorism;
- Promoting the protection of the rights of women and girls who are refugees, asylum seekers and migrants;
- Enhance cooperation in implementing Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security;
- Monitoring the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and related resolutions.
Commentary
Croatia has a relatively recent experience of armed conflict as it fought a war of independence in the early 1990s. Now Croatian troops participate in international missions of the EU, NATO as well as the UN (mostly UNMOGIP and MINURSO).
The NAP does not specify how activities will be funded; nor is there detail about how implementation of the NAP will be monitored and evaluated.
Civil society involvement in development of the NAP
There is no reference as to how civil society organisations were involved in drafting the NAP.
UN Peacekeeping Statistics
At May 2023, Croatia was contributing 15 military observers and staff officers to UN peacekeeping operations, with 3 of them being women (20%).
Women’s role in peacekeeping
The NAP explicitly discusses rates of female representation in the armed forces and the police, as well as intelligence agencies, security ministries, diplomacy, and other institutions. It also mentions the aim of promoting women’s participation in international missions. However, no specific commitments or plans for increasing women’s presence in the security sector are set out in this NAP.
References and sources
Croatia WPS NAP in translation to English is available at:
National Action Plan UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION (wpsnaps.org)
Contribution of Uniformed Personnel to UN by Country, Mission, and Personnel Type (May 2023): 05-Missions Detailed By Country
