Finland to be among lead partners in international gender equality work while UN Women celebrates its anniversary
Finland has been selected to join Generation Equality, a UN initiative to boost the achievement of gender equality goals worldwide. Finland will be a member of the Action Coalition responsible for the promotion of technology and innovation.
Generation Equality process will focus on six topics, in which progress in gender equality has been the slowest in the 25 years following the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995. In the next five years, Finland, Tunisia and Armenia will lead the Action Coalition on technology and innovation for gender equality. UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will participate in the work of this Action Coalition.
The other Action Coalitions will focus on matters concerning gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), economic justice and rights, feminist action for climate justice, and feminist movements and leadership.
“Finland is at the leading edge in technology and innovations. Various digital and technological solutions can be used to promote girls’ education in developing countries. Artificial intelligence can offer solutions to many challenges in society, and gender perspective should be taken into account in its development. Finland has solid expertise in social innovations, too. We therefore hope that many Finnish stakeholders will get involved in this cooperation, inviting more people to take an interest in technology and helping bridge the gender gap in technology,” says Minister for Development and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.
This year marks not only the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action but also the 10th anniversary of the creation of UN Women. UN Women is in charge of gender equality coordination within the UN system, it formulates international policies and practices concerning the subject matter, and implements projects in approximately a hundred countries. Finland is a long-standing political and financial supporter of the organisation.
“Because of the work of UN Women, gender equality has risen to the centre of political discussion, and this has led several countries to pass legislative amendments that have, for example, increased women’s participation in politics and reduced violence against women. Gender equality is an important priority in Finland's foreign policy and it is therefore natural for us to collaborate with UN Women,” says Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
Not a single country has managed to reach all the goals related to gender equality, set in Beijing in 1995. This year, progress is hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. UN Women has coordinated work to ensure that women and girls are taken into account in global actions and that their needs are responded to in country-specific programmes. 19 MEUR contribution makes Finland the biggest core supporter of UN Women in 2020. This year, Finland also holds the Presidency of the Executive Board of UN Women.