Luanda — The Minister of State and Head of the Military Affairs Office of the President of the Republic, Francisco Pereira Furtado, stressed this Monday the need for the increasing involvement of women in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.
The retired general was speaking at the opening of the I Course on Defence and National Security from a Gender Perspective, taking place until March 31st, under the scope of the UN Security Council resolution 1325 of October 31st, 2000.
The resolution 3125 on women, peace and security creates an international political basis that supports the promotion and defence of the transversal dimension of gender equality, allowing women to assume a prominent role during and after conflicts.
General Francisco Furtado informed that there has been a growing awareness in the country about the importance of women's integration and participation in the various fields of National Defence, namely the Armed Forces.
He also stressed that issues related to women, conflicts, peace, national and public security, as well as community and domestic violence have been deserving major attention.
In the current context of geopolitical change, the updating and consolidation of knowledge must be permanent and generalist, and concerns all citizens, including civilians who have a relevant role to play in the analysis of phenomena that are transversal to their comfort zone.
To the Minister of State, the formative and informative actions must take a privileged place to mould behaviours and attitudes to face the complex scenarios that may present themselves.
He went on to say that the Angolan State has never left aside the participation of women, reserving for the female gender, since the beginning of the National Liberation Struggle, high positions in the various bodies that make up the Defence and National Security System.
He referred that although the Military Service Law does not oblige the entrance of women, about four thousand women are part of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), and sixteen thousand are in the National Police, in general and commissary positions, superior and subordinate officers in the different specialties, and that the numbers tend to grow.
Gen. Furtado declared that women are fierce defenders of the preservation of peace, in the management and resolution of conflicts, because they are the ones who suffer the most under such circumstances.
He paid "humble homage" to Angolan women on the occasion of the month of March for being "brave, mysterious, intuitive, sensitive, virtuous, intelligent, delicate, graceful and wise beings".
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In an initiative of the National Defence Institute (NDI), the course is promoted in partnership with public institutions from Portugal and the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
Themes on the agenda include "The Gender Issue in Defence and Security Organs", "The Perspective of Gender Participation in Peace Operations", "The Status of Women in Defence and Security Organs", and "The Inter-sector connection in National Security".
On the occasion, the secretary of State for National Defence, Former Combatants and Homeland Veterans, Domingos Tchikanha, informed that 767 auditors from all provinces and CPLP member countries are participating in the training programme, in zoom platform.
