The conference, which was directed by the Deputy Minister of Defence of BiH Marina Pendes, was also attended by Minister of Defence of BiH Zekerijah Osmic and highest representatives of MoD and the Armed Forces of BiH, delegation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of UK, led by Minister William Hague, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Republic Croatia and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs dr Vesna Pusic, BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs dr Zlatko Lagumdzija, Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy at NATO Kolinda Grabar-Kitarevic, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in BiH Anne Vibeke Lilloe. UN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie also attended the Conference and spoke to the participants and guests.

Deputy Defense Minister Marina Pendes specifically highlighted that "sexual violence is a problem that the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces of BiH take very seriously. I believe that only through joint efforts and hard work we can achieve the desired result, which is the reduction and prevention of sexual violence in conflict." Sexual violence, in her words,"has consequences not only on the individual but also the entire society and the process of reconciliation, it is therefore necessary to act to prevent further violence," emphasized the Deputy Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina Marina Pendes.

"We want to help Bosnia and Herzegovina and the people who were victims of sexual violence. Sexual violence is not just an inevitable consequence of the conflict; it is used as a weapon of war. Rape is a moral outrage and a big reason for people moving from one area to another. Sexual violence should not be ignored. Your role is vital in the fight against violence," said the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom William Hague.

Minister Hague emphasizes the role of PSOTC in establishing Course module which will deal with preparing security forces in preventing sexual violence.

"This region has gone through a terrible war and for many people in Bosnia and Herzegovina international aid came too late and you know that it hurts. Rape is one of the worst crimes against civilians. Your mission as peacekeepers should be to prevent that. Protecting these people depends on you. Thanks to you victims will be able to seek justice. Hopefully you'll find this to be an inspiration as it was for me," said, among other things, the UN Special Envoy on sexual violence in conflict, Angelina Jolie.

Vesna Pusic, the first Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, also addressed the gathering. With words of thanks to the organizers and hosts of the conference, she thanked the head of British diplomacy William Hague for the initiative on the adoption of the Declaration on the obligation to prevent sexual violence in conflict. The minister in her speech specifically focused on two aspects of sexual violence in conflict: "The first is that it can not happen to us and that sexual violence happens somewhere else in some distant lands and peoples, which is not true and we were convinced, the other is the belief that it is a shame, that stigma for the victims. It is important to emphasize that the fight against impunity and addressing the problem are the core of eliminating this crime. It must be something that is beneath their dignity to be a perpetrator of such a crime," said the Minister Pusic.

In his address, BiH Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija said that Bosnia and Herzegovina is fully committed to active partnership with Minister Hague in the framework of prevention of sexual violence in conflict, which our country has fully supported since its adoption, and expressed his gratitude to the Government of the United Kingdom for the implementation of various projects in BiH aimed at preventing sexual violence in conflict. Minister Lagumdzija stressed that "the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are aware of the need of preventing sexual violence in conflict, because of the painful experiences in the past which our country has gone through," and pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina condemns all forms of crimes against persons who are victims of violence and emphasizes the importance of dealing all perpetrators of crimes to justice.

It is necessary to include women as key actors in the process of problem solving, emphasized, among other things, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway Anne Vibeke Lilloe.

Assistant Secretary General of NATO Public Diplomacy Minister Grabar-Kitarovic also referred to the need for greater involvement of women in conflict resolution processes. "There is no peace without the participation of women in the process, we have to prove that women should not be ashamed of what happened to them; it is devastating that women are faced with the perpetrators of violence daily," emphasized Ms. Grabar-Kitarević .

Contribution of the conference was given by the Peace Support Operations Training Centre (PSOTC), which, according to the speeches of the participants of the conference, is recognized as a regional leader in the provision of gender courses for peacekeeping operations.

With this Conference, PSOTC is proving its role as a regional leader and a center of excellence in delivering gender perspective in PSO Courses.

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