When the Nordic Council of Ministers established the Nordic Gender Equality Fund in June 2013, the aim was to stimulate Nordic cooperation in the area of gender equality. Since then, the Fund has granted funding to NGOs, public authorities, researchers and networks within the context of 79 different projects.

In this publication, we present the experiences, insights and effects of these first ten years of the Fund. 

The publication in Nordic languages

Finnish:
Kymmenen vuotta yhteistyötä pohjoismaisen tasa-arvorahaston kautta (accessible online version)
PDF in Finnish for print

Icelandic:
Tíu ára samstarf gegnum Norrænan jafnréttissjóð (accessible online version)
PDF in Icelandic for print

Within the Nordic Council of Ministers’ program for sustainable lifestyles in the Nordics, NIKK has produced a research overview to make visible and challenge gender stereotypes in relation to consumption and lifestyle, and contribute to a better understanding of how differences arise, and how they are reinforced and reproduced.

Sustainable production and consumption, goal 12 in Agenda 2030, has been identified as one of the areas where the Nordic countries face the greatest challenges in the work for sustainable development. The overall international research situation regarding the climate impact of individuals’ consumption patterns shows, among other things, that socio-demographic factors such as gender, income and ethnicity have a great explanatory value. Research also shows that inequality itself, especially in high-income countries, leads to increased emissions from consumption.

Find an accessible version of the publication here

In the Nordic countries, both education and the labour market are strongly gendersegregated. This segregation is both vertical and horizontal, meaning that women are found in different courses and study programmes and sectors of the labour market than men, and also find themselves in different positions in the hierarchies of education systems and working life. This gender segregation has consequences for study and working conditions, pay, and the distribution of power and resources.

Combating gender bias is one of the strategic areas of intervention in official Nordic cooperation in the area of gender equality. The Danish Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2020 therefore initiated a project that shed light on gendered educational choices in the Nordic countries. The Nordic Council of Ministers cooperation body Nordic Information on Gender (NIKK), located at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research, was commissioned to conduct a study focusing on gender segregation in VET in the Nordic countries.

The study provides an introduction to what we know about VET and gender as an area of knowledge, describes how VET in the Nordic countries is organised, and gives examples of how these countries have worked to break patterns of gender segregation and to retain pupils who belong to the under-represented sex. The study also includes a concluding analysis section which discusses the results of the survey conducted against the background of current knowledge in the field.

An accessible version of the publication(in English) can be found here.

How are the Nordic countries handling the effects of COVID-19 on gender equality? The COVID-19 pandemic is presenting new challenges for gender equality, which has loomed large in Nordic gender equality co-operation since the outbreak of the pandemic. The risk of increased domestic violence when the community partially shuts down to reduce the spread of infection. Working life and the economy, unpaid care work and mental health issues are also areas that have been largely affected by the pandemic.

This publication summarises the knowledge produced thus far in the Nordic countries and brings together the gender equality initiatives and measures that the Nordic countries have initiated in relation to the pandemic. The publication aims to contribute to the sharing of knowledge and experience between the Nordic countries arising from the effects of the pandemic on gender equality. By learning from each other, the Nordic countries can decrease the risk for that the Corona crisis become a gender equality crisis.

The publication has been produced by Nordic Information on Gender (NIKK) and is based on data from the Nordic countries as well as interviews with researchers and experts.

This summary presents results from co-operation projects financed by the Fund that have contributed to gender equality in the workplace. The purpose of this summary is to share knowledge and experience from these projects in order to increase their impact so that they will benefit more people, and to inspire others to participate in Nordic co-operation projects.

The summary has been prepared by Nordic Information on Gender (NIKK), which is a co-operation body under the Nordic Council of Ministers. NIKK has the task of managing the Nordic Gender Equality Fund.