USINDOPACOM Office of Women, Peace & Security holds inaugural gender advisor course

FORUM Staff

The United States Indo-Pacific Command’s (USINDOPACOM) Office of Women, Peace & Security (WPS) conducted its first Indo-Pacific Regional Military Gender Advisor Course in Hawaii in late August 2023. The event marked the launch of a five-year training initiative by USINDOPACOM.

The WPS Office designed the annual course to develop a trained network of gender advisors from partner nations, with the goal of graduates eventually incorporating concepts such as gender awareness, gender sensitivity and mitigating gender violence into government and defense organizations in their home countries. The training curriculum, which ran from August 14-25, was divided into two segments — operationalization and institutionalization.

“For us, it starts with inclusive institutions, processes and mechanisms that enable and empower diverse perspectives to confront today’s complex security environment,” Australian Defence Force (ADF) Air Commodore Christopher Robson, a military exchange officer at USINDOPACOM, said in his opening remarks.

“United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 fundamentally broadens the definition of security — by expanding who can become our security partners, those we’ve often and long overlooked,” he said. “Women expand our understanding of what makes us secure. Their perspectives improve how we provide security that is both effective and sustainable.”

Participants from nations including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Fiji, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Thailand heard from government, consulting and defense experts from Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. Presenters shared their experiences incorporating WPS perspectives into their respective institutions and tackling gender-related challenges in conflict situations.

Topics included navigating legal and bureaucratic structures that inform gender and WPS policies, national action plans, gender-based violence, and gender considerations in natural disasters and conflict situations. In lecture-style presentations and small group discussions, participants described their challenges in institutionalizing gender awareness and sensitivity in their own institutions. They received feedback and advice.

In the final course project, participants created a proposal for a potential changemaker in their respective chain of command, including mechanisms to incorporate WPS and arguments as to why the initiatives would benefit their institution’s goals.

The course emphasized actionability: How participants can move forward with incorporating WPS objectives, and what tools would make that happen effectively for their specific culture and country. The tools might include network building and strategic communication skills.

“We don’t believe in being prescriptive in how to implement WPS effectively — there are many ways that are most meaningful and make the most sense to each of you,” said Robson, who called the course a baseline for applying gender perspectives. “We are committed to working with our partner nations in institutionalizing WPS into their own forces.”