NATO has made progress in increasing gender diversity but more work remains. Between 2002 and 2014, NATO increased the percentage of female leaders from 11% to 22% and the percentage of women in middle management from 33% to 37%. NATO's 2012-2014 Diversity Action Plan aims to further improve gender balance through initiatives like a women's professional network, identifying and removing barriers to women, and analyzing recruitment practices. Achieving gender diversity in an international organization like NATO is challenging and requires sustained individual and collective efforts.

1. Gender Enablers within NATO
International Women’s Day 8 March 2014
“If you look around the Alliance, there are lots of successful female Generals and Politicians and I
could see perhaps, in the not too distant future, a woman as SACEUR and, why not, a woman as the
Secretary General of NATO.”
Oana Lungescu – NATO Spokesperson
At the 2002 Prague Summit, Heads of State and Government tasked the International Staff (IS)
to make recommendations to the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on ways to further encourage
the recruitment, retention, and professional development of a diverse NATO workforce. Since
2002, NATO has significantly increased the percentage of female leadership from 11% to 22%
and from 33% to 37% in all levels of middle management.
On this International Women’s Day, we will be celebrating female leadership at all levels
within the organization and highlight the achievements made recently in the 2012-2014
Diversity Action Plan. In 2011 and 2012, NATO employed the first female Assistant
Secretary General, the first female NATO Spokesperson and the first Secretary General’s
Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security. The Diversity Action Plan aims to
improve networking and inclusion through the use of gender and diversity focal points in
each Division and National Delegation in the NATO HQ to foster the exchange of best
practices. NATO plans to create a Women’s Professional Network to enable networking,
coaching and mentoring to cultivate an inclusive environment whereby different skills are
valued and seen as an asset. As well, an important focus of the Diversity Action Plan will be
to identify and remove any potential barriers to women in the NATO working environment.
Policy remains one of the main enablers for change. Recently, a NATO- wide Policy on the
Prevention and Management of Harassment, Discrimination, and Bullying in the Workplace was
finalized. Other policies that support greater diversity are currently in draft. Tele-working has
been adopted which allows the possibility to work from home and is one of several initiatives
aimed at improving work life balance. The Action Plan also underlines the importance of
creating cultural and diversity awareness through internal and external communication and
training. Other Human Resource initiatives that support diversity which are driven through
policy and apply tangible data include the Exit Survey and a Diversity Scorecard. The Exit
Survey will provide information on the reasons why International Staff leave the Organization,
which is essential for identifying potential causes of turnover rates, and especially for women. A
Diversity Scorecard is being developed in the NATO HQ by IS to give a graphical snapshot of the
Diversity situation (Nationality, Age, and Gender) for any Division, Branch, or Section. This can
be used to make managerial choices that potentially improve diversity awareness, or team
composition through training and recruitment.

2. The 2012-2014 Diversity Action Plan also aims to look at recruitment practices in more detail
in order to increase the number of female applicants. In 2012, for example, only 20% of the
selected candidates on the IS were women. However, on its own, increasing the number of
female applicants does not necessarily correlate with a higher instance of their selection.
Through the IS Recruitment Support Programmes and increased outreach to Nations and
Capitals, further analysis can be made to determine potential barriers to selection and
specifically to women.
Achieving gender diversity in an international organization, at all levels is a challenging journey,
which requires both individual and collective efforts at every level, NATO-wide. Gender
diversity does not happen on its own; it needs to be enabled and nurtured.
Tara Nordick
Tara Nordick currently works in NATO HQ in Executive Management, Human Resources
Policy and Strategy Coordination Section as the Diversity Officer. The role of the Diversity
Officer is to develop and modernize HR policies in support of NATO HQ aimed at improving
gender balance and diversity.
nordick.tara@hq.nato.int