About the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI (MR-JÄM)

The shared culture, history, and democratic traditions of the Nordic countries facilitate a close and constructive partnership on gender equality and have made it possible to take the lead in promoting the equal rights, treatment, and opportunities of LGBTI people.

The shared culture, history, and democratic traditions of the Nordic countries facilitate a close and constructive partnership on gender equality and have made it possible to take the lead in promoting the equal rights, treatment, and opportunities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) people.

Gender equality is about sharing power and influence equally, with women and girls and men and boys enjoying the same rights, responsibilities, and opportunities in all areas of life. Gender equality also presupposes a society free of gender-related violence. An overarching gender-equality policy that covers both women and men is needed in order to achieve an equal and just society.

In many countries and regions around the world, the rights and opportunities of LGBTI people are being challenged. In the Nordic Region, it should be the other way around, which is why Nordic co-operation is taking the lead in promoting the equal rights, treatment, and opportunities of LGBTI people.

Inter-governmental work on gender equality and LGBTI issues is the remit of the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI (MR-JÄM), which consists of the national ministers for gender equality. The ministers meet at least once a year for talks and to make decisions in areas where working together will achieve more than the individual countries can achieve on their own – this is known as Nordic synergy.

The Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Gender Equality and LGBTI (ÄK-JÄM), which consists of representatives of the five nation states plus Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Åland, meets at least three times a year. It takes care of the practical work and preparations for the ministerial meetings.

The Secretariat to the Nordic Council of Ministers in Copenhagen is responsible for the day-to-day running of inter-governmental co-operation. The Secretariat also houses the Department for Culture and Resources, which prepares questions for submission to, and discussion by, the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI. The Secretariat is also responsible for implementing decisions once they have been made.

The Nordic Council of Ministers is actively involved in co-operation with the adjacent regions, including the Baltic countries, North-West Russia, the Arctic, and the Barents region. Every two years, the Nordic senior officials for gender equality meet their colleagues from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to discuss joint priorities. Nordic co-operation on gender equality issues also seeks to make an impact at the international level, such as by attending the annual meetings of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

Objectives and vision

The overarching political framework for Nordic efforts pertaining to gender equality and LGBTI issues is the 2019–2022 programme for co-operation. The programme consists of a gender equality policy component and an LGBTI policy component. In the field of gender equality, the programme contains four strategic focus areas: 1) future of work and economic growth; 2) welfare, health, and quality of life; 3) power and influence; and 4) gender equality work with a focus on men and masculinities. Gender equality is established in the making of decisions, the allocation of resources, and the creation of norms. For this reason, the gender equality perspective must be present in the day-to-day work of Nordic co-operation as a whole. To realise this, the mainstreaming of gender equality is being used as a strategy.

In the field of LGBTI, the programme contains three strategic focus areas: 1) freedom and openness; 2) quality of life and living conditions; and 3) networks and civil society. Nordic co-operation for the rights of LGBTI people was formally launched in 2020. In order to actively address the discrimination of LGBTI people, an intersectional perspective must be used in order to define and implement co-operation and the efforts that result from it. Intersectionality is defined here as an analytical perspective to strengthen awareness and understanding of the way in which sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and gender characteristics, in interaction with other identity characteristics, position LGBTI people in the Nordic Region differently and provide different conditions for participating in society on equal terms.

Priorities and outcomes

Gender equality

The Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI will continue to work towards integrating a gender equality perspective into all areas of society.

Within the framework of the “future of work and economic growth” strategic focus area for gender equality, the Nordic countries, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland are striving to ensure that:

  • women and men have equal opportunities in tomorrow’s labour market, gender-segregated education choices that pave the way for a gender-segregated labour market are counteracted, and
  • women and men in the Nordic Region share care duties in the home and in relation to children. This is central to equal opportunities in respect of labour market participation and for ensuring a gender-equal labour market in the future.

Within the framework of the “welfare, health, and quality of life” strategic focus area for gender equality, the Nordic countries, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland are striving to ensure that:

  • women and men have equal access to good health and social care and that they are treated on equal terms in the health, medical, and elderly care sectors,
  • women and men and boys and girls have equal opportunities in the public sphere and equal rights to bodily integrity. Sexual harassment and abuse, negative body ideals, and stereotypical portrayals of women and men must be counteracted.

Within the framework of the “power and influence” strategic focus area for gender equality, the Nordic countries, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland are striving to ensure that:

  • women and men have the same opportunity to have influence and power, men and boys are encouraged to participate in efforts to bring about the equal distribution of power and resources in society, and
  • leadership is equal, with more women in senior positions.

Within the framework of the “gender equality work with a focus on men and masculinities” strategic focus area for gender equality, the Nordic countries, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland are striving to ensure that:

  • boys and men are involved in gender equality work and challenge restrictive norms and gender stereotypes.

LGBTI

Within the framework of the “freedom and openness” strategic focus area for LGBTI issues, the Nordic countries, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland are striving to ensure that:

  • LGBTI people can live freely and openly and have the same opportunities in life as the rest of the population. Discrimination and hate crimes must be prevented and counteracted. LGBTI people have the same access to mobility in the Nordic Region as the rest of the population.

Within the framework of the “quality of life and living conditions” strategic focus area for LGBTI issues, the Nordic countries, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland are striving to ensure that:

  • LGBTI people have equal access to physical and mental health services. The marked differences in both physical and mental health provisions between LGBTI people and the rest of the population must be reduced. LGBTI people must have equal access in all areas of society.

Within the framework of the “networks and civil society” strategic focus area for LGBTI issues, the Nordic countries, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland are striving to ensure that:

  • the knowledge and experiences of civil society’s LGBTI organisations are utilised in efforts to ensure the equal rights, treatment, and opportunities of LGBTI people. This contributes to and strengthens the development, networks, and sharing of experiences of and within civil society for the benefit of the continued development of the LGBTI field within the Nordic countries.