OSF Fellow Sarah Williamson attended the Operational Gender Advisor Course to integrate gender into the military plans and operations.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is moving forward with placing a Gender Advisor (GENAD) within each of the regional combatant commands. The GENAD role is closely modeled after NATO's approach which ensures that gender perspectives are integrated into all military functions. This December, OSF Fellow Sarah Williamson attended the second Operational Gender Advisor Course at U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Miami, preparing a new cadre of 30 officers to advise commanders on integrating gender into military plans and operations. Sarah observed the training and spoke on a Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) panel alongside the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), emphasizing how integrating female perspectives has strengthened analysis on threats to vulnerable populations and increased the level of access that relief operations have to affected communities.