Leadership, Arctic Gender Equality and Diversity: The foundation for sustainable policy development
By Embla Eir Oddsdóttir
GEA took part in a Breakout Session on Leadership, Arctic Gender Equality and Diversity at the 2019 Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík in October. The session was organized by the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs; the Nordic Council of Ministers; the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network; the Icelandic Directorate of Equality; the Centre for Arctic Policy and Security and the University of Akureyri. The session built on outcomes and developments of the project Gender Equality in the Arctic I – III.
The Session was chaired by Stefán Skjaldarson, Chair of the Arctic Council Working Group on Sustainable Development (SDWG). Speakers were Hjalti Ómar Ágústsson, Project manager for Gender Equality in the Arctic Phase III at the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network; Eva-Maria Svensson Deputy Head, Department of Law, Gothenburg University; Anastasia Ulturgasheva, Researcher, Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network, Stefansson Arctic Institute; Gunn-Britt Retter, Head of Arctic and Environmental Unit, Saami Council; and Sara Olsvig, Head of Programme, UNICEF Denmark’s office in Greenland. A summary statement was provided by Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Faculty of Political Science, University of Iceland.
Highlighted topics from the session
Gender equality in the Arctic should be included in Arctic Circle plenary sessions in the year 2020.
It is important to adhere to legal norms through action, take legal obligations seriously and advance them at national and international levels.
Saami Council and the Inuit Circumpolar Council have been instrumental in encouraging the ratification of human rights treaties and declarations, but it remains crucial that states ratify human rights treaties and declarations.
Impacts of cultural change are gendered depending on context. Men generally are more vulnerable in terms of self-harm, whereas women are more vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse. Gender Equality must focus on both men and women to capture differential vulnerabilities, ensure equal opportunities and encourage celebration of diversity in all levels of society.
It is important to discuss and negotiate different notions of equality. Respect for indigenous perspectives is vital and care must be taken not to impose western ideas of equality, regardless of their merit, on cultures with a long history of colonization. Gender equality should be about people being able to choose their paths regardless of gender. Youth perspectives must be included to capture evolving perspectives for future policymaking.
Lived experiences contribute to broader understanding and should inform policy and the political agenda. Women continue to be under-represented in leadership and concerted efforts and strategies to close this gap must be implemented. This includes a critical evaluation of where power is performed.
There are no universal solutions to issues of gender and diversity for the rich cultural diversity living in the Arctic. International cooperation can contribute to gender equality through mutual sharing and transfer of knowledge, proven practices and by encouraging the Arctic Council to be a role model in discourse and practice.
Raising children is about leadership, about realistic expectations and testing abilities, allowing experiential learning and without limiting options based on gender. Primary consideration in policy and decision-making should be the best interests of the child. In a changing Arctic, new agendas in geopolitics and strategies require greater awareness of the rights of women and children.
Full session summary
Following a brief opening statement by the Session Chair, Mr. Stefán Skjaldarson, Chair of the Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG), Eva-Maria emphasized that Geopolitics are both about how politics influence, and is influenced by, the human and the physical. She also emphasized the importance of following legal norms in action, not just in rhetoric, and the importance of taking legal obligations seriously and advancing them at both national and international levels.
Through anecdotes from her own upbringing, Gunn-Britt Retter focused on the importance of teaching young people the importance of responsibility and respect, for themselves, their fellow human beings and their environment. Raising children is about leadership, about realistic expectations and testing their abilities accordingly, allowing them to learn through experience without limiting their options based on their gender. Leadership is also about letting youth challenge the established ideas and shake things up.
Sara Olsvig discussed her work with children with UNICEF and emphasized that the children are the future. She highlighted the four main principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the principles of non-discrimination; decisions by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies should always be made with best interests of the child as primary consideration; that children have the right to survival and development; and that their views must be respected. Sara emphasized that human rights have been fought for and still need fighting for. In a changing Arctic affected by climate change, new agendas in geopolitics and geostrategies and growing interest from actors outside the Arctic we must be very aware of the rights of women and children especially and Sara commended the Icelandic Arctic Council chairmanship for putting Gender on the agenda.
Following initial commentary, the chair handed the floor over to questions from the audience. A question from students at the University of Iceland sparked discussions about the importance of states ratifying international human rights conventions and the important work indigenous organizations like the Saami Council and the Inuit Circumpolar Council have done in lobbying for ratifications of human rights treaties and declarations.
Questions from the audience
Q: Can the panel comment on the importance of including men in the equality discourse?
Anastasia Ulturgasheva pointed out the vastly different effects cultural changes in Yakutsk in the 20th century had on men and women. Women were pushed into labor and away from the land whereas men kept a closer connection to the land. The result is that the system is oppressive towards indigenous men as they have little or no opportunities for other work. She also pointed out that Yakutsk was dominated by a very macho culture and a distinct lack of diversity in leadership. Eva-Maria emphasized that Gender Equality focuses on both men and women and is about giving everybody the opportunity to shape their own lives. Gender stereotypes oppress both men and women and although women are more vulnerable, both men and women suffer.
Sara Olsvig echoed some of the views expressed by Anastasia about how men and women in Greenland have been affected differently with suicide rates among young Greenlandic men very high but Greenlandic women experiencing high rates of physical- and sexual abuse. These issues are under-monitored and need more attention.
Gunn-Britt Retter agreed that both men and women were on the agenda and like in Greenland and Yakutsk, men and women in Saami communities are affected differently. Saami women experience higher rates of violence than average and Saami men have higher suicide rates and we need to address the causes. The breaking down of social cultures has left men with better access to traditional spaces whereas women leave for education and sometimes do not come back, threatening the sustainability of communities. We need more culturally appropriate education for indigenous communities. Gunn-Britt pointed out that all these issues need to be addressed and asked those present to push to have gender equality in the Arctic as a plenary session at next year’s AC Assembly.
Anastasia strongly advocated for respecting indigenous perspectives and needs and that we should be careful in imposing western ideas of equality, regardless of their merit, on cultures with a long history of colonization.
Eva-Maria Svensson emphasized that gender equality is not contrary to indigenous or traditional lifestyles but rather about people being able to choose their paths regardless of gender.
Sara pointed out that young people have different views on traditional notions of gender and gender roles and we need to include their voices when making policy decisions that affect their futures.
Q: Despite progress women are still under-represented in leadership. The NW Territories parliament in Canada went from having only 1-2 women elected to 9 after a conscious effort making sure that women felt ready to enter the political space. How can we move forward to address the gender gaps?
Gunn-Britt discussed similar efforts made with the Saami parliament where a concerted effort was made to nominate women in the region for parliament. The effort worked and women went to being half of the Saami parliament.
Sara stressed the importance of making the spaces where decisions are made more accessible to women. Institutional structures and scheduling have historically catered to men who have not had to attend to children and just changing the timing of sessions may have great benefits for women and men who have families. Make the spaces family friendly.
Hjalti emphasized that lived experiences matter and the more diverse points of view represented in decision making the better. Homogenous groups of decisionmakers will have limited experiences to understand and address issues unknown to them.
Eva-Maria agreed that lived experiences should inform policy and the political agenda. It is important to have gender research with a feminist perspective and we have to be critical. This is also a question of representation, where does power lie within the arctic, and where is the power performed? Economics are often perceived as the most important issues in male dominated venues.
Q: These issues of gender and diversity are often seen as national or local issues. How can international and circumpolar cooperation help address these issues?
Hjalti pointed out that the session and the report that the GEA III project will produce were to address this issue and that hopefully we could learn from each other although there are no universal solutions to issues of gender and diversity for all the very different cultures in the Arctic.
Anastasia pointed out that we would also have to consider that the states in question may not have the best track record when it comes to human right and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Gunn-Britt said that it is important to share what we have established and what is working in our countries as models for moving forward. The Arctic Council should also try to be a role model.
Q: The panel was asked to address if, or how, being a part of the Nordic communities, had influenced the gender-equality development within the Nordic Indigenous Communities?
Gunn-Britt acknowledged that being a part of affluent welfare societies did make things easier.
Sara pointed out that even though a lot has been achieved in gender equality in the Nordic countries they are themselves still dealing with equality issues. Nonetheless, the Nordic countries are in a position to put issues of gender and diversity on the agenda in the Arctic.
Anastasia pointed out that Institutions, discourses and spaces in Yakutsk are dominated by Sakha people and that diversity in government and other institutions was extremely important.
Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir then summed up the session in a few words touching up on the importance of safeguarding the rights of women and minorities in a changing Arctic and the importance of forging a system where peoples voices are heard, and they are free to influence and make decisions about their own lives. She also stressed the importance of addressing gender related issues of Arctic communities where men have more access to traditional ways of living and women migrate out of the communities for education, often not to return. We also need to address issues of high rates of suicide among young men, sexual and physical violence against women and how traditional perspectives on roles and identity influence these issues. We need to discuss these issues, all of us.