We are delighted to share that the EQUALFORCE project, implemented by the GS-Foundation in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, has been recognized with the Outstanding Security Performance Award (OSPA) 2025 in the category “Outstanding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative”.
This prestigious award celebrates initiatives that make tangible contributions to increasing inclusion and equality within the security sector. We are proud that Gender Associations has played a key role in advancing this important work alongside our valued partners and under the leadership of the Ministries of Internal Affairs (MIA) in Moldova and Ukraine.
Since 2023, Gender Associations has been supporting the EQUALFORCE project through a wide range of activities designed to strengthen gender equality, enhance professional capacity and build safer and more inclusive security institutions by:
Conducting a comprehensive study on the working conditions of Moldovan police officers through a gender lens (available in English and Romanian);
Organizing two study visits for representatives of the Moldovan MIA to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to exchange best practices on implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda and UNSCR 1325;
Designing and implementing a Training of Trainers programme, on gender-responsive policing for gender trainers in Moldova followed by in-person mentoring one year later;
Developing a tailor-made Facilitation Guide for gender trainers in the security sector in both Romanian and Ukrainian;
Delivering in-person training on new laws preventing sexual harassment to hundreds of police personnel in Ukraine;
Jointly implementing a leadership training series for police women together with the Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association “JurFem”;
Developing and conducting in-person training on preventing and responding to sexual harassment at the workplace within Moldova’s security institutions;
Designing and producing four tailored online training modules on sexual harassment for the Moldovan police, in close collaboration with the OSCE and the Moldovan Police Academy to be published in fall 2025;
Producing a study on preventing and addressing sexual harassment in Moldova’s security sector, to be published in fall 2025.
These achievements were made possible through the dedication and collaboration of numerous partners and institutions, including the GS-Foundation, the Auswärtiges Amt (Federal Foreign Office, Germany), the OSCE, the Women Police Association (AFP) Moldova, UN Women, UNDP, and the Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association “JurFem.”
We extend our sincere thanks to all partners, as well as to the Ministries of Internal Affairs in Moldova and Ukraine, for their political, moral, and institutional support. Together, these efforts have contributed to building more inclusive, effective, and accountable security sector institutions that better serve their communities.
