State secretary Ms. Krishna Chudasama, Ministry of Children and Equality

Meeting at the Association of Professional and Business Women (AIPBW) of Norway

Oslo, 6 September 2006

Check against delivery.

Ladies ,

Thank you very much for inviting me to this meeting to night.

Introduction

The immediate reason for me being here is my candidature as one of the Top 10 International Men and Women in Norway in 2005. The idea of the Top 10 selection is to highlight the skills and involvement of international women and men in Norway, and to provide young immigrants with good role models.

I am strongly aware of the pressing need for role models and inspiration for young immigrants on their way into adult life in Norwegian society. And I’m honoured and happy to stand as one. I hope that I, as a politician and state secretary, can raise awareness on the importance of political participation and engagement, as well as a being a visible proof of the possibility for a leading position in the state administration.

Equality and diversity policies in a broad sense keep standing to me as one of the most important policy areas for our future society. My vision is a heterogeneous/diverse society where every body have the same rights, duties and opportunities independent of their sex, social, ethnic or national background, religious beliefs, imparity, age or sexual orientation. All discrimination must be fought.

In this diverse society everybody is given the same opportunities to participate in politics, at the labour market and in all other arenas of the society. In this society it is a common truth that every one of us gives a necessary contribution to society, and that our differences is a resource.

As I am at Top 10 candidate in my capacity as a women politician and leader, I wish to use this opportunity to relate to some aspects from the historic developments of women’s equal participation in politics and decision making in Norway. I will try to draw some lines from this development to the current discussions on integration of ethnic minorities in to Norwegian society.

Developments towards gender parity in politics and decision making

Equality in the first phase of modern post-war Norway was very closely linked to women’s emancipation and participation – in opposition to for example USA, where equality was just as much linked to the civil rights movement and the fight against discrimination on grounds of colour and race. Social homogenity and strong egalitarian values where probably important for the widespread support for a public policy to promote gender equality in Norway.

The increased parity between women and men in decision making was closely linked to education and employment opportunities. Reconciliation of the demands of work and family life for both women and men has been at the core of Norwegian politics since the 1980s. From the 1970ies there has been an increasing demand for manpower, starting with the oil sector. In the following years Norway experienced also rapid growth in the public sector due to development of welfare services. Women responded to the increased need for labour, through increased education and paid work.

At the same time there was a rapidly growing women’s movement claiming political influence. Norway was one of the first countries in the world with universal suffrage and eligibility for both sexes (1913). But equal rights to participation are not the same as de facto equal representation. Women were marginally represented in politics and positions in governmental and municipal structures until the 1980ies. The fight for women’s representation in politics was a major, principal fight in these years. The argumentation followed two main lines:

• Representative democracy/quantity. Women are half of the population and should have half of the influence and power

• Diversity/quality. Women have other experiences than men – their contribution to policy will broaden the political insight and raise the quality of political decisions. A “gender equality pays” - perspective

Through the intensive work of the women’s movement and an all-party movement of women politicians, a line of strategies for more women in politics where developed.

Within several party organisations women were given confidence through political training, and net works or women’s organisations within the political parties were established. Successful women’s campaigns were run ahead of municipal elections. Several parties voluntarily introduced gender quotas in the 1970ies. I am proud to tell that my own party, the Labour party, has now passed a gender parity resolution that will ensure that half of the appointed or elected representatives of the organisation are women. These voluntarily imposed quotas also led to the fact that since 1989 the different Norwegian governments have adapted the unwritten rule of ensuring that at least 40 per cent of the ministers are women.

Furthermore in the 1980ies the Parliament passed a law on gender quotas on official boards, committees, delegations, etc. A strategy of quota systems and earmarking of positions has also been used to increase the number of women in positions in public administration and the academic sector.

All these strategies together have proven successful in politics. Today Norwegian women are an integral part of the political decision-making system. Following the general election in 2005, 36 per cent of the members of the Norwegian parliament and 47 per cent of the government ministers are women.

Well, some would say, women have achieved a proportional share of political positions, but did the politics change?

The effects are hard, if not to say impossible, to evaluate exactly. But I’m a quite sure that a lot of the changes in large areas of policy would not have taken place with out women’s contribution. More important, I think that the general quality of all policy improves, when a country choose its politicians among all its inhabitants instead of only half of it. Imagine the waste of knowledge and experience when using only one hand and half of your brain capacity!

The strategies used in politics and public sector are now applied on executive bodies in state owned and private enterprises to increase the proportion of women in leading managerial positions and executive bodies in these companies.

Despite the fact that an increasingly number of women has finished a higher education, the number of women in managerial positions and company boards remains small. The problem is not that we don’t have qualified women. The problem is to recruit these highly qualified women into leadership positions and make use of their competence.

One of the tools that have been taken in use, is mentor/leadership programmes. These have been implemented both i private and public sector. Let me especially point out the “Female Future”-programme launched by the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise and Industry (NHO).

“Female Future” is a development programme and a network for talented women. The talented women are selected by the senior managements of their own companies. The aim of the project is to involve company managements, change attitudes and motivate company managements to be the driving force in efforts to ensure that there are more women in management and on the boards of directors of their own companies. Most companies aim to get at least one new woman into management and onto the board of directors within two years.

Since 2003, 480 women have participated in the “Female Future” programme and are potential candidates for board positions. Special projects have targeted public limited companies and regional projects have been carried out. An evaluation shows that 36 per cent of participants in the national project have received offers of board positions during or after the programme.

In 2003 Norway also introduced legislation on gender balance in company boards, as many of you are aware of. This legislation demands 40 per cent representation of either sex on boards in state owned companies and public limited companies (PLC). In April 2003 7 per cent of the board members in private companies where women – by 1 July 2006, just three years later, 21 per cent of the board members were women. There is still a considerable way to go – but we are definitely going there!

We have to keep in mind that society is diverse, and so are a company's potential costumers. Having diversity both in leadership positions and among the employees will make it easier to reflect the needs of the costumers and the society. More diversity improves the management of the companies. Diversity also strengthens the companies' possibilities to rapid adjustments. People with different backgrounds have different networks. This will give companies a business advantage, and the public sector a greater possibility of finding good solutions for everybody.

New challenges – ethnic minorities

I have pointed out the rationality and reasons for gender parity in politics and decision making, and I have mentioned a line of strategies that have been in use:

I find that – all in all – the same reasons applies for a proportional representation of ethnic minorities in politics and decision making. And I think that the effective results coming from the legislation and other measures used in the struggle for gender parity sooner or later will push for ward a discussion on similar legislation and measures applying to ethnic minorities. In order to upheld legitimacy of political and other institutions of power in a modern democracy. A legitimacy built on the belief that institutions of power should mirror the population and that diversity leads to better decisions to the advantage of society as a whole, as well as for the companies and the individuals.

In 2006 gender equality is still a core task for the government, but a more diverse and complex society has broadened scope of the equality policies. Since the first wave of working immigrants from Pakistan in the 1970ies (by the way; this first wave of immigration was due to the same reasons as the women “flooded” in to the labour market), the Norwegian society has become ethnically and religiously more heterogeneous. This is a challenge to a traditionally homogenous society, but at the same time an undisputable asset in an increasingly globalized world. I think that for the sake of further developments we are in need of diversity. And I find that one of the most important tasks the Norwegian society faces right now is to recognise and include the immigrants in a way that allows them - by their knowledge, experience and talents – to enrich and contribute to the development of the Norwegian society. If we fail to include the immigrants I fear that we face the germ of a future social disaster. Not only will the country go amiss of valuable resources in working life, business, politics and cultural life, but also will we face large socially excluded groups with marginal belonging and attendance to the society in which they live. The human, social and economic expenses could be extensive.

Thank you for your attention!