The President of the Republic of Croatia, H.E. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
The President of the Republic of Croatia, H.E. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, to accept the inaugural 2017 CIMIC Award of Excellence at the 10th Anniversary of the NATO CIMIC Centre of Excellence, October 10th, 2017, in The Hague, Netherlands.
“It is with great pleasure for me to announce, that the President of Croatia will attend the 10th Anniversary celebration of the CCOE to receive the award for her contributions to Gender and the empowering of women and girls around the world,” said CCOE Director Colonel Wolfgang Paulik.
“Gender equality and gender issues are a key factor our CIMIC personnel is faced with in missions. Only societies developing gender equality will be stable and prosperous in the long run. To this end CIMIC personnel from all NATO forces, including Croatia, have been serving together in missions for many years and I personally have fond memories of our Croatian brothers in arms.”
Before being elected as the President of Croatia in 2015, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović had completed several senior diplomatic and political assignments in the service of her country. A career diplomat by training, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović became Minister of European Integration in 2003 and Croatia’s Foreign Minister in February 2005, her central task being to guide the country into the European Union and NATO. From 2008 – 2011 she served as Croatia’s Ambassador to the United States.
As the first women ever, she was appointed as a NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy until her election as President of Croatia. As both NATO Assistant Secretary General and President of the Republic of Croatia she visited Afghanistan numerous times, and during her visit in 2014 she met with CIMIC personnel stationed in Camp Marmal, near Mazar-e-Sharif.
President Grabar-Kitarović is well-versed in Euro-Atlantic diplomacy and security issues and is a globally recognized leader for gender equality and the empowerment and women and girls.
The 2017 CIMIC Award of Excellence will be bestowed on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the CCOE during an illustrious ceremony attracting senior representatives from NATO, national ministries, governmental institutions, International and major Non-Governmental Organizations, as well as civic and corporate leaders.
The motto of the Anniversary “From the Protection of Culture to the Protection of Civilians” has been chosen, to arch the wide span of the activities and tasks relevant to successful Civil-Military Interaction.