Austria has developed an interdisciplinary training course on the protection ...

Austria has developed an interdisciplinary training course on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The training course is tailored to the requirements of command personnel active in international crisis management. It will be held for the first time in December at the Austrian Peace Center in Stadtschlaining, with participants from 20 Member States and international organizations. Modules on women in armed conflict will make up an important part of the course, with the objective for participants to develop a gender- sensitive needs analysis and practical solutions aimed at effectively addressing those needs. Nine mission gender advisers have been trained and their deployment began to the Balkans in 2011. After a first assignment to Kosovo, which proved extremely successful, Austria will continue that engagement in 2013. Furthermore, Austria will continue with its support to UN-Women and has offered support for developing a national action plan for partnering countries with a view to launching concrete cooperation early next year.