Slovakia
Slovakia adopted its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2020 for the period 2021-2025. The NAP was developed by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in cooperation with the Ministries of Labour, Social Affairs and Family; Defence of the Slovak Republic, and the Interior along with the Presidium of the Police Force. The NAP does not identify civil society actors in its development process. The NAP has four strategic goals: increasing women’s participation in peace and security; taking into account and protecting women’s human rights and their specific needs in line with the Women, Peace and Security agenda; raising awareness and deepening expertise on the Women, Peace and Security agenda; and international cooperation. Each of these strategic goals have operational objectives, a method of evaluation, timeline and the respective ministry that will carry out the activity. The NAP lacks clarity on the implementation structure and monitoring and evaluation framework. It also does not allocate a specific budget, nor does it state the cost of activities expected to be carried out by the various ministries.
Slovakia became an independent state in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country does not have a recent history of armed conflict, but contributes to overseas military operations and peacekeeping missions.
In 2019, Slovakia was among the top 5 countries in the world with the biggest increase in their military expenditure, with a 48% increase in its military spending.
Most recently, in 2019, the Slovak Parliament passed a resolution to stop the ratification process of the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty to prevent domestic violence and violence against women, as well as calling on the government to block the European Union’s accession to the Convention.
At the multilateral level, Slovakia most recently served as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2006-2007.
CEDAW
1993
Global Gender Gap Index 2020
63 out of 153
Arms Trade Treaty Ratified
2014
Military expenditure (2019)
$1.8 billion USD
Explore Slovakia's National Action Plan
NAP Development
The NAP does not mention the role of civil society actors in its development process.
The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic led the NAP development process in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, and the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic/Presidium of the Police Force.
NAP Implementation
Civil society does not have a direct role in implementation of Slovakia’s NAP. However, as the NAP will be carried out through the activities of the various ministries, their respective list of activities states: Strengthen cooperation with civil society, local women's and gender equality organizations in order to promote and educate on equal opportunities as a development cooperation agenda in partner countries; Support for the activities of non-governmental organizations active in the field of the WPS agenda.
The main and direct implementers of the Slovakia’s NAP are: the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic/Presidium of the Police Force, and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. Each of these ministries will carry out various activities to implement the NAP.
NAP Monitoring and Evaluation
Civil society is not involved in the monitoring and evaluation of the NAP.
The ministries involved in the implementation of the NAP will submit a summary evaluation report in 2026 as part of the National Action Plan for 2026–2030 to the Committee for Gender Equality which is a permanent expert body for human rights, national minorities and gender equality and monitors the implementation of CEDAW and other international human rights conventions.
The NAP is developed for the period of 2021 to 2025.
The NAP has four strategic goals based on the four pillars of the WPS agenda: Increasing women's participation in peace and security; Taking into account and protecting women's human rights and their specific needs in line with the Women, Peace and Security agenda; Raising awareness and deepening expertise on the Women, Peace and Security agenda; International cooperation.
Each of these goals have certain operational objectives. For example, to further Goal 1, following are the objectives (pg 17):
- Adoption of measures to increase the representation of women in the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic and the Police Force, including decision making positions
- Taking measures to increase the representation of women in military and civilian missions, as well as in international organizations, including decision-making positions.
- Implementing measures to promote the reconciliation of work and private life
- Ensuring equal pay for men and women in the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, in the Police Force, in military and civilian missions and in the field of humanitarian aid
The activities required to be taken by each implementing ministry is outlined in the NAP. For instance, the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family will undertake the following activities/commitments:
- Incorporating the WPS agenda into the activities and topics of the Committee for Gender Equality of the Council of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Human Rights, National Minorities and Gender Equality;
- The ILFR cooperation on educational events on the topic of WPS;
- Support for the activities of non-governmental organizations active in the field of the WPS agenda.
Each of the strategic goals mentioned in the NAP have an operation objective and respective methods of evaluation. For instance, in Goal 2:
The operational objective: Taking measures concerning the specific needs and protection of the rights of women and girls at all stages and areas of conflict resolution
Has the following methods of evaluation:
- number of measures that take into account the needs of women and girls, including the protection of political rights, economic rights, and protection against violence and sexual violence
- monitoring the effectiveness of implemented measures
However, these methods/indicators are rather vague and do not outline the specific measures required to be taken.
The NAP lacks clarity on a specific monitoring and evaluation framework. Although it states that the ministries will submit an evaluation report to the Gender Equality Committee.
“Once a year, the Gender Equality Committee discusses the current implementation of the objectives of the National Action Plan. On this basis, it will continuously recommend updating the National Action Plan in line with developments in the WPS agenda at the UN, with the international obligations of the Slovak Republic and the obligations arising from EU membership” (pg 7).
The NAP does not allocate specific funds to carry out the various activities by the ministries nor does it state how these funds will be procured.
The NAP does not reference disarmament, small arms and DDR nor does it draw the direct link between gender and disarmament as a crucial aspect of the WPS implementation.