The new web resource provides a Nordic overview with milestones for the Nordic gender equality work, country reports, a list of knowledge resources and a unique ‘fortune teller’ in paper with facts about gender equality in the Nordic region. Just in time for the Nordic Forum, an online quiz will also be added.

‘This will hopefully increase the interest in the Nordic gender equality efforts, and more specifically in the Nordic gender equality cooperation,’ says Josefine Alvunger, Head of Operations at NIKK.

Comparative qualities in focus

The overviews offer good insight into the gender equality work in the Nordic countries and autonomic areas. The national websites started publishing national material a while back, but comparative information has been missing.

‘We wanted to give a brief overview of shared issues and concerns, and of similarities and differences between the countries. If you want to read more about something, for example a certain country, there are plenty of links to click,‘ says Alvunger.

The comparative perspective was also the biggest challenge when writing the overviews. The processing of statistics and other data was particularly difficult, and the routines for this work are still under development at NIKK.

‘You can’t just line up a bunch of tables and think you’re done. The data have often been generated differently and in different national contexts, so simply comparing them at face value will lead to false conclusions. The data also have a tendency to become outdated very quickly,’ says Maja Lundqvist, who has been part of processing the material presented under Nation by Nation.’

‘We wanted to make something new’

NIKK has also designed a paper ‘fortune teller’ with select information from the country overviews. Folded right, it displays NIKK’s core message. The ‘fortune teller’ will be used at the Nordic Forum in Malmö 12-15 June, the big Nordic conference for women’s rights. NIKK hopes it will spark new discussions about gender equality policy in the Nordic region.

‘We wanted to make something new. That piece of folded paper says something interesting about the Nordic countries: We are similar and “small” enough to fit inside a fortune teller, but there is unlimited information to learn about the different countries – our website keeps growing and is under constant development!’ says Alvunger.

The overviews are intended for anybody who works with, studies or simply wants to learn more about gender equality work in the Nordic region. At the moment, the texts are published only in Swedish and English, but Finnish and Icelandic versions are underway. The next step will be to develop the overviews with comparative data and statistics.

Footnote:
The material has been compiled by Sandra Engelbrecht, processed by Maja Lundqvist and Fredrik Bondestam at Nordic Information on Gender, and finally reviewed and verified by national experts.