On 26 June 2025, the Working Group on Police, CSDP and Gender held its latest meeting, where participants discussed the climate-security-gender nexus, and how these interlinkages can be addressed through civilian CSDP.

What is the Working Group?

Founded and facilitated by the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management (CoE), the Working Group brings together police experts and policymakers from EU Member States to improve women’s participation in Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missionsin a full, equal, and meaningful way.

Why was the Working Group formed?

Women remain significantly underrepresented in civilian police roles deployed under the EU’s CSDP framework. Despite some countries reporting up to 40% women in their national police forces, their participation on the ground in civilian CSDP missions often falls short, sometimes as low as 20%. The Working Group was created to collectively address this gap by identifying structural obstacles, sharing data, and developing practical measures to increase recruitment and retention of women officers, as well as a full, equal and meaningful participation in civilian CSDP missions.

What does the Working Group do?

Facilitated by the CoE, the Working Group meets to discuss topics related to women police officers’ participation in civilian CSDP missions. The group shares presentations and updates on national policies, recruitment processes, and gender strategies. Some examples include:

• The Netherlands’ International Police Deployments Team (TIPU) presented plans for a new gender strategy focusing on increasing women’s participation and delivering gender-sensitive training.

• Belgium shared results from a recently completed barrier study examining women’s secondment to CSDP police missions, set for wider presentation in October.

• Germany presented their flyer, a tool for informing and encouraging women police officers to apply for civilian CSDP missions.

• Finland highlighted their strategies for successfully seconding women police officers.

• Other participants have detailed practical challenges affecting women’s availability for missions, including family considerations and housing issues.

The CoE’s ongoing commitment

Through this work, the CoE supports Member States in fulfilling their commitments under the 2023 CSDP Compact and their National Implementation Plans.

The Working Group’s ongoing discussions and exchange of experiences are driving progress toward more gender-balanced police deployments in civilian CSDP missions, which in turn enhances the effectiveness and legitimacy of EU civilian crisis management efforts.