Dear ladies and gentlemen, 

I am both excited and honoured to be given the opportunity to address you all on the launch of this ambitious report on Gender Equality in the Arctic. I would like to start by thanking the project partners and the Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group, sponsors, and especially the many authors who contributed both time and effort to the report. I would like to mention the Permanent Participants and thank them for their support, cooperation and contribution to the repot. However, I cannot go on without thanking specifically Embla Eir Oddsdóttir, director of the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network, for leading the Gender Equality in the Arctic project from the beginning in 2013 and for all of her hard work and determination to the project. 

For over a decade, Iceland has been ranked at the top of the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. This is something we are proud of and comes with a responsibility to lead by example. In Iceland, we have been fortunate to see valuable progress on this front which is due to continuous efforts that have delivered results. Advancing gender equality has long been an area of importance for Iceland and one which we emphasise both domestically as well as in our foreign policy. We also believe that it is a fundamental component of sustainable development not just in the Arctic but globally. Therefore, it wasn’t exactly a coincidence that Iceland initiated a dialogue on Gender Equality in the Arctic [GEA] in 2013 and has kept the ball rolling, together with a growing number of project partners, ever since. We like to believe that GEA has become a household term, at least within the Arctic Council family. This made it an obvious choice for us to include gender equality as one of our priority areas for our Chairmanship in the Council, which is coming to an end this month after a two-year term in the driver’s seat. 

As the Arctic gathers more international attention our region is also going through rapid ecological, social, and economic changes. These changes affect the people of the Arctic differently, affect men and women differently, and not only because the Arctic covers a large and geographically diverse area. The need for gender-based analysis and gender mainstreaming are identified throughout this report as a way to promote gender equality. The Arctic Council can lead the way in this regard by continuing to support research and action to improve and promote gender equality in the region. For us to get a better understanding of the issues and inequality often facing individuals both in their everyday lives in the Arctic and across different regions, sectors and genders, we need consistent and comparable data. That is how we can inspire international policy making as well as bringing attention to the importance of gender equality in the Arctic.  

The objective of the GEA project has been to raise the visibility and understanding of gender issues in the region. Increasing diversity and gender balance in both policy and decision making is important. The project, has from the outset, been aimed at strengthening a network of experts and stakeholders in the field and providing them with a platform to promote and expand dialogue on gender equality in the Arctic. It also contributes to identify and fill the knowledge gaps on this subject.

Gender equality in the Arctic is an ever-important issue and one close to our hearts here in Iceland. It is a must for us, political leaders in the region, to do our best to put in place policy measures and legislations to better support the communities in their efforts to make progress when it comes to gender equality. Track records show that increased gender equality goes hand in hand with improved social and economic well-being and is therefore of the utmost importance for all of us. 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

If there was one thing that we knew with absolute certainty about Gender Equality in the Arctic, before this report, it was that there are huge knowledge gaps to be filled on this topic. The report we are launching here today certainly contributes to strengthening our knowledge base and close some of those gaps, while providing policy makers with the understanding that is needed to foster resilient and thriving communities in the Arctic.

I take this opportunity to congratulate all of you, who contributed to this impressive and important report. Many of you have participated in the GEA project throughout its three phases. It will be exciting to see the project develop further and continue through its fourth phase under the next Chairmanship. A project like this one would never have been possible without people who believe in it and believe in making a difference for future generations. 
I am certain that the discussions here today will be both fruitful and interesting as you will hear from many of our leading experts in the field. We need to continue to address gender inequality together, by calling attention to the issues surrounding it so that we may correct past and existing discriminations in our communities. 

Thank you. 

Ávarpið var flutt á rafrænum útgáfufundi Norðurslóðanet Íslands 14. maí 2021 í tilefni af útgáfu skýrslu um stöðu kynjajafnréttis á norðurslóðum (e. Pan-Arctic Report: Gender Equality in the Arctic).