April 28, 2015
On April 28, Ambassador Uyehara joined Parliament Speaker Ranko Krivokapić, Chairperson of the Security and Defense Committee Mevludin Nuhodžić, and Director of the OSCE Secretary General Office Ambassador Marcel Pesko in opening the seventeenth Cetinje Parliamentary Forum which takes place April 28-29 in Cetinje. This year’s Forum focuses on Human Rights and Gender in the Security Sector Governance and Reform. The Forum is a regional initiative organized by the Parliament of Montenegro with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.
“I commend Montenegro for the great strides it has made in modernizing its military and making the defense reforms necessary to join NATO and the EU. This process includes creating greater opportunities for women in the Montenegrin Armed Forces. Both our countries have work to do. Here in Montenegro, only 8% of troops in the Montenegrin Armed Forces are women. In the United States, women comprise 15% of our active-duty military, and unlike Montenegro, we have never yet had a female Secretary of Defense,” said Ambassador Uyehara at the Forum opening.
