The ESDC course on “Women, Peace and Security: Looking at the Western Balkans and the MENA Region”, organized by the Department of International and European Studies of the University of Macedonia, was completed successfully today, after a week of training.

The course was conducted in the framework of the educational seminars of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) of the European Union. It was implemented under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was co-organized with the UNESCO Chair on “Women, Peace and Security” of the University of Macedonia.

The policy agenda of “Women, Peace and Security” (WPS) constitutes a key priority of Greece during its term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2025 and 2026. The specific policy agenda of WPS promotes human rights, gender equality in crisis management and contributes to good governance.

The Department of International and European Studies (IES), adopting a pragmatic approach to the international promotion of the WPS agenda, promoted the organization of the particular seminar on an annual basis as a training initiative at the University of Macedonia, in co-organization with the UNESCO Chair on “Women, Peace and Security”.

Speakers from the University of Macedonia, other Greek institutions and from abroad, shared their expertise and field-based experiences on empowering women’s agency in peacebuilding efforts, women’s agency in the entire cycle of crisis management, as well as promoting women’s protection during military conflicts and extreme violence.

As the Course Director, Fotini Bellou, Associate Professor of International Relations and Head of the UNESCO Chair on “Women, Peace and Security”, noted "the promotion of WPS agenda is of immense importance given the increasing deterioration of the international peace and security environment. We consider that we are responding to Greece’s growing interest in the promotion of the Women, Peace and Security policy agenda, an area in which the University of Macedonia is officially recognized as a contributor to the implementation of the corresponding Greek National Action Plan on WPS.”  Fotini Bellou also emphasized that “Through this initiative, we aimed to promote inclusive governance and the protection of women's human rights in conflict and post-conflict regions, particularly in the Western Balkans and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It is of utmost importance to focus on the problems of our region in the most impactful way according to our capacities. Moreover, this seminar is commensurate with the Department’s participation as a member the Executive Academic Board of the European Security and Defence College of the EU, to which we have been members since 2015. As an international training activity, the seminar substantiates both the international visibility of the Department and the outward-looking profile of the University of Macedonia”.