The 4th International Conference Women and Democracy St. Petersburg 2005

Address by Sigríður Anna Þórðardóttir
Minister for the Environment and Nordic Cooperation

It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to address you here on behalf of Iceland, at the beginning of the last of four conferences on the topic of WoMen and Democracy, but the first of these conferences was held in Iceland in 1999.

I bring you the regards of Árni Magnússon, Minister of Social Affairs, who is in charge of gender equality in the Icelandic government and could unfortunately not be with us here today.

I am in charge of the Ministry for the Environment in Iceland, in addition to being the Minister of Nordic Cooperation. This means that I represent the Icelandic government in the cooperation of the five Nordic states - Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland - and the three autonomous regions – Åland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.

Nordic cooperation is extremely important. In the field of gender equality it has a history of more than 30 years. Gender equality is one of the most important areas of Nordic cooperation. Collaboration with our eastern neighbours, the Baltic states and now Northwestern Russia, is based on an active tradition of cooperation. This very conference is the product of this cooperation, and we hope that it will lead us into greater collaboration in the field of gender equality.

Iceland is an island in the middle of the North Atlantic ocean. It has almost 300,000 inhabitants, who live in close contact with its beautiful nature, although its forces can sometimes be destructive.

Our language, Icelandic, has changed less than many other languages, and is one of the important things that shapes our national identity. It is stated that our parliament, Althingi, is the first democratic parliament in Europe, and even in the world, founded in the year 930.

Democracy is important to all of us – but without the participation of women, democracy cannot exist. Gender equality is politically and democratically necessary so that elected representatives can reflect their constituencies and the citizens as a whole.

This year marks the ninetieth anniversary of women’s right to vote in Iceland. This is just one of many anniversaries we are celebrating this year. This coming October 24th will mark thirty years from the day Icelandic women took the day off from work in a memorable way. The purpose of the women’s day off was to get society to pay attention to the value of women’s contribution to the labour market. This was a resounding success. Everyone became aware that without women’s contribution, the wheels of society stopped turning. This day in 1975 set in motion an awareness raising effort about the status of women, resulting in, among other things, the passing of Iceland’s first gender equality act in 1976. This act had the objective of bringing about full equality of women and men. There is no doubt that this legislation, and its successors, paved the way for increased gender equality in the past decades.

Women in Iceland will commemorate this turning point with another event this coming October 24th. The planners have suggested that women will quit working at 14:08, which is when their working day should end if we look at women’s earnings as a ratio of men’s earnings – studies show that women make 64.15 per cent of what men make. Icelandic women’s labour participation is the highest in the world, or close to 80%. We expect to see many such meetings around the country on October 24th. Icelandic women have been at an equal footing with men with regards to education for quite a while, and women have been the majority of university students in Iceland since 1985. That alone is not enough. The gender pay gap is too complicated a phenomenon for education alone to overcome.

The gender pay gap is one of the biggest issues in the campaign for gender equality and the Icelandic government places particular emphasis on the elimination of the gender pay gap. Iceland led the Nordic governments’ cooperation in the area of gender equality last year, which saw the beginning of a Nordic research project about the gender pay gap. This project is currently under way, and will be concluded early next year.

The reconciliation of family and work, increased participation of men in the caring for young children, and the equal status for women and men in the labour market are the main objectives of the Act on maternity/paternity and parental leave, which took effect in Iceland on January 1st, 2001. This Act provides for a nine month long maternity and paternity leave, divided between the parents so that women have three months, men three months, and three months that the parents can divide between themselves as they see fit. It is safe to say that this Act is a radical approach to achieving gender equality in Iceland. And it has been a successful approach – about 90 per cent of men take advantage of their right to paternity leave. This means men are more active participants in the rearing of their children, which gives them an opportunity to develop a close relationship with their children from birth. But the paternity leave also contributes to gender equality in the labour market. When the father is more present in the home, as he can be while on paternity leave, women have an easier time re-entering the labour market after giving birth. It can therefore be said that the paternity leave contributes to a balance "inside", in the home, as well as "outside", in the labour market.

Strong women leaders and role models are extremely important in the campaign for gender equality. In the minds of Icelanders, the election of Madame Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as President of the Republic of Iceland in 1980 was a great step towards democratisation for women around the world. Iceland became the first democracy to elect a woman as president, and we are proud to have done so. Her impact was immense, and it is still felt, not only in Iceland, but around the world. Madame Vigdís Finnbogadóttir celebrated her 75th birthday this year, and this was commemorated in many ways. Last year we also celebrated 30 years of Nordic cooperation in the field of gender equality. On that occasion, Vigdís gave a powerful speech at the City Theatre in Reykjavík, where she discussed the necessity of men participating more in gender equality, both in the discussion of it and in practice. Vigdís mentioned her strong belief in the need to hold a conference where only men would discuss the value of gender equality.

Increased participation of men in the campaign for gender equality is a precondition for full equality to be achieved. It is important that men step up to work towards gender equality, alongside the women, who have carried the burden so far. Gender equality should not be women’s private affair. Gender equality is a matter of human rights, which men need to discuss and contribute actively towards in the future.

Since the first conference under the title of "WoMen and Democracy" was held in Iceland, it is fitting that discussion at the international level of men’s value to the campaign for gender equality begins in Iceland as well. In the next year, Iceland will host an international conference, where men can discuss issues of gender equality. Hopefully, this will create unity in purpose and provide the foundation for realistic actions towards equal rights for women and men.

Finally, I want to thank you for the honour it is to visit your beautiful city. I expect this conference to contribute towards our very important cooperation towards equality between women and men.