Youth, gender and equality: Nordic ministers meet today in Tønsberg

No.:  06024
Date:  10 May 2006
Contact: Information secretariat  +47 22 24 24 07

 

Youth, gender and equality: Nordic ministers meet today in Tønsberg

 

On behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality, Norway's Minister of Children and Equality, Karita Bekkemellem, received a White Paper yesterday outlining the view of young people toward gender equality.

 

The White Paper, which was prepared by a Nordic working group, helps lay the foundation for a four-year effort by the Nordic countries to promote gender equality. The White Paper is to be distributed to Nordic youth to stir their interest in the gender equality debate.

 

The working group that authored the White Paper found that young, newly educated women are concerned about their future prospects in the labour market and that they fear discrimination in connection with pregnancy. Other subjects presented in the White Paper include gender roles, violence, parental roles, homosexuality and the relation of young people to advertising and the media.

 

Today, the ministers discussed shared Nordic challenges related to:
• Power and gender: The ministers discussed gender representation on corporate boards and in corporate upper management.
• Youth and gender: In addition to the youth view of gender equality, ministers dealt with the issues of forced marriage and genital mutilation.
• Prostitution in the Nordic region: The ministers gave their support to a new research project on prostitution and human trafficking in the Nordic countries.

 

The meeting was expanded into a joint Nordic/Baltic ministerial meeting because participants favoured wider activity on the issue of equality and men and of the struggle against human trafficking.