Croatia developed their NAP in 2011 for the period 2011-2014. As of November 2016, no new NAP has been presented. Development of the NAP was led by an interdepartmental working group coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. Civil Society was invited to provide input into the drafted NAP, but had no representation in the Working Group. The objective of the Croatian National Action Plan is to help monitor and implement the goals set out by UNSCR 1325 locally, nationally, and internationally. The fact that Croatia has experienced conflict in the recent past accounts for a greater awareness of local issues and the need for specific actions to mitigate these crises in a way that accounts for gender awareness. Their efforts include establishing a working group, preparation and training for armed forces, and perhaps most uniquely, including the public by providing a public forum for opinions and comments to be made. The NAP also includes an extensive matrix mapping out the implementation process (Miller, Pournik, & Swaine, 2014).
Croatia is in a period of post-conflict transformation and reconciliation, following the 1991-1995 Serbo-Croatian war that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia. The conflict was characterized by gross human rights violations, including indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas, ethnic cleansing and mass rape, which displaced approximately 260,000 Croatians and killed 14,000 people, more than 40 percent of which were civilians. The conflict had distinct gendered dimensions. The majority of those actively engaged and killed in hostilities were men, which resulted in a sharp increase in the number of widows and women-headed households, considerably increasing the economic and caring burdens of women. Sexualized violence was employed as an explicit weapon and method of ethnic cleansing in Croatian occupied territories and Serbian detention camps. Internationally, Croatia is involved in peace keeping operations in addition to its domestic policy of substantial employment of of women in peace operations, both members of armed forces and of the police.
At the 23 April 2019 high-level WPS Commitments event, Croatia committed to creating a new NAP in advance of October 2020.