Through the opening of the centre, the Government and the Swedish Armed Forces aim to increase the military competence in gender related issues both nationally and internationally.
- Fifty per cent of the population in conflict zones are women. We will never be able to achieve sustainable peace in complex conflict zones without proper understanding of gender related issues, says Commander Jan Dunmurray who teaches operational art at the Swedish National Defence College, and who has been appointed as commander of the new centre.
The location at Swedint is mutually beneficial as Swedint has been working with international competence development within the Swedish Armed Forces since 1993 and has a wide-range of expertise in individual education and training for military, police and civilian staff personnel in support of Peace Support Operations (PSO).
A long term goal is to increase the role of the centre internationally and to lead military competence development in gender related issues within the Nordic countries.
- There are several authorities and organizations in Sweden and in other countries that have an interest in this area. NATO has shown great interest and on the 12 September we expect a visit from its Allied Command Transformation, says the Swedint Commander, Colonel Thomas Karlsson.
The preparations prior to the start are in full swing and work is ongoing to integrate the centre with the Nordic Defence Cooperation. The inauguration will take place in January 2012.