This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

6th March 2015

ŽENE, MIR I SIGURNOST

U samom startu sam u nepovoljnom položaju pri pisanju bloga o ulozi i zastupljenosti žena u politici i društvu, zbog činjenice da nisam žena.  Ali jesam sin, brat, muž, otac i kolega jakih, kreativnih i pametnih žena, što me dovodi do zaključka da je bilo koje društvo u kome su žene nedovoljno zastupljene, bez ikakve sumnje, neuravnoteženo i nedjelotvorno.

U nedjelju je 8. mart, 105. Međunarodni dan žena.  U savršenom svijetu, to bi značilo da je 8. mart dan za obilježavanje sjajnog doprinosa koje su žene dale društvu.  I jeste to.  Ali u isto vrijeme, nakon više od 100 godina kasnije, treba se sa žaljenjem i razočarenjem konstatovati da je Međunarodni dan žena još uvijek uvelike vezan za zaštitu, promoviranje i pružanje podrške jednoj polovini svjetske populacije.  I prečesto su žene i dalje marginalizirane ili čak ugrožene u svojim zajednicama.

Ovdje u Bosni i Hercegovini, Britanska ambasada nastavlja usko sarađivati sa ženama koje su strašno propatile tokom groznih događaja devedesetih godina.  Posebno nastavljamo pružati podršku žrtvama seksualnog nasilja u konfliktu – muškarcima i ženama kojima je prečesto uskraćena pravda i koji ne dobijaju odgovarajuću podršku kako od vlasti, a u nekim slučajevima ni od svojih porodica i zajednica.

 zenica

Hvala bogu, ova zemlja je prešla dug put u zadnjih dvadeset godina, i svi se nadamo i vjerujemo da su takvi događaji prošlost i da se nikada više neće desiti.  Ali jedan od najsigurnijih načina da se zacementiraju mir i stabilnost u ovoj zemlji i u širem regionu je da se poboljša zastupljenost žena u politici.  Upravo to je razlog zašto je Rezolucija 1325 Vijeća sigurnosti UN-a tražila od zemalja članica da osiguraju veću zastupljenost žena na svim nivoima u procesu donošenja odluka, u državnim, regionalnim i međunarodnim institucijama i mehanizmima za prevenciju, vođenje i rješavanje sukoba.

U januaru su britanski i njemacki ministri vanjskih poslova posjetili Sarajevo kako bi urgirali za socio-ekonomske reforme koje bi trebale dovesti do novih mogućnosti za građane ove zemlje i učiniti da Bosna i Hercegovina napreduje na putu ka Evropskoj uniji.  Tokom posjete sastali su se sa predsjednicima 14 vodećih političkih stranaka.  Slika govori sve što se treba reći o zastupljenosti žena na pozicijama donošenja odluka u ovoj zemlji.  Sa par važnih izuzetaka, među kojima su predsjednica Vlade RS Cvijanović, zamjenica predsjedavajućeg u Parlametnu BiH Krišto, potpredsjednica Federacije Mahmutbegović i predsjednice Ustavnog i Suda BiH, Kreso i Galić – ovaj broj je još uvijek vrlo mali.

14 leaders

Ove godine se obilježava 20 godina od Pekinške platforme za djelovanje u sklopu koje su se vlade složile po pitanju minimalne kvote od 30% žena na nivoima odgovornim za donošenje odluka.  Jasno je da smo kolektivno svi ispod i ove skromne kvote.  Iako su i ovdje poduzeti važni koraci, uključujući i zakonski propis da najmanje 40% izbornih kandidatkinja moraju biti žene, bilo bi sjajno vidjeti više žena na ministarskim mjestima i u ulozi predsjednica stranaka.  Ja sam upoznao veliki broj impresivnih žena u Bosni i Hercegovini, među njima i učesnice našeg Fellowship programa, koje bi mogle doprinjeti transformaciji političkog i ekonomskog bogatstva ove zemlje.  Više o nekim od njih možete pročitati ovdje.

Ovo nije laka tranzicija za bilo koju zemlju, uključujući i moju.  Izgleda da treba puno vremena da se invertiraju stoljeća muške hegemonije i dominacije.  U nekim dijelovima svijeta, poput Iraka i Sirije, mračne sile i dalje koriste nasilje i zastrašivanje kako bi potisnuli i ušutkali žene.  Mislim da ne postoji bolji razlog za rad na potpunoj jednakosti žena i djevojaka.  #HeForShe

About Edward Ferguson

Edward Ferguson took over as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Serbia in July 2023. Before coming to Belgrade, Edward served as the Minister Counsellor Defence at the British Embassy in Washington…

Edward Ferguson took over as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Serbia in July 2023. Before coming to Belgrade, Edward served as the Minister Counsellor Defence at the British Embassy in Washington DC in September 2018. Together with the Defence Attaché, he led the British Defence Staff (United States), a network of 1,000 people spread across 28 States. As the UK’s senior policy adviser on defence relations with the United States, he was responsible for UK-US collaboration on strategic planning, nuclear policy and programmes, trade and acquisition, and science and technology. He was the US Network’s lead on HMG’s Integrated Review and AUKUS, and the senior champion for the Race, Ethnic and Cultural Heritage Group.

Previously, he served as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2014 to 2018, where he created and led a new international strategy, co-launched by the British and German Foreign Ministers, that re-energised Euro-Atlantic integration after years of stagnation while stimulating economic growth and reducing high levels of youth unemployment.

A former Exhibitioner and Choral Scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, where he was also Treasurer of the Oxford Union, Edward graduated with First Class Honours in Classics in 2001. Joining the Graduate Fast Stream of the Ministry of Defence, he started out in the Naval Staff before joining the Iraq Secretariat during the build-up to and subsequent execution of Operation TELIC. In 2003, he was involved in financial and requirement scrutiny of the Department’s future helicopter procurement programme.

From 2004 to 2006, he managed a national award-winning £300-million programme to consolidate the MOD estate in Greater London and to redevelop RAF Northolt. In 2006, he volunteered for an operational tour, serving as Political Advisor to a British Battlegroup in Maysaan Province, Iraq (while his brother was a troop leader with the British Army in Basra). On his return, he took on responsibility for the strategic management of the UK’s bilateral defence relations with the United States, Canada and Western Europe.

From 2007 to 2009, he worked as Private Secretary to three Defence Secretaries, acting as their closest adviser on issues relating to operations in Iraq, the £6-billion defence equipment programme, science & technology, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy.

In 2009, he was appointed the Head of Afghanistan and Pakistan Policy, responsible for advice to the National Security Council on the policy, financial, legal, parliamentary and presentational aspects of the UK military contribution to operations in Afghanistan, and on the long-term defence role and interests in Pakistan.

From 2011 to 2014, he was Head of Defence Strategy and Priorities, leading two teams, one responsible for leading the MOD’s contribution to developing the 2015 National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review, and the other for prioritising the MOD’s international defence engagement activities. In 2013, he graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with an MSc with Distinction in Strategy and Diplomacy. He has been a member of the RCDS Strategic Advisory Panel, a member of the US Air Force Grand Strategy Advisory Board, and is a graduate of the PINNACLE Command and Staff course.