GEA Project updates to SDWG

The SDWG Permanent Participants, Heads of Delegation and Observers in Ísafjörður. Photo: SDWG Secretariat.

By Hjalti Ómar Ágústsson

During the SDWG executive and plenary meeting in Ísafjörður, Iceland, September 11-12, 2019, Embla Eir Oddsdóttir, Director of the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network, from which the project is managed, provided the SDWG with an update on the progress of GEA III.

A part of GEA III is continuing to collect interesting gender relevant material and further develop the project website arcticgenderequality.network,  as well as strengthening its network and ties to the larger community. The GEA team has started to prepare a Pan-Arctic report on Gender issues in the Arctic and the most pressing tasks are to appoint the Editorial Committee for the report and identify themes and topics to address in the report. Writing is expected to start early 2020.

The SDWG provided excellent feedback, re-affirming support of the project and emphasising the importance of diversity in all aspects of the report. The GEA team will continue to work with SDWG delegates to ensure diverse representation on the editorial committee, including different geographic locations, peoples, genders and expertise, and to make connections with other networks and projects.

The next project update will take place during the Senior Arctic Officials Executive and Plenary meeting in Hveragerði, Iceland, November 19–21, 2019.