Iceland
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The context
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Iceland, with its population of 325.671 in 2014, was rated the highest out of 142 countries by the
World Economic Forum in the Global Gender Gap Report 2014. It was so called Global Gender
Gap Index presented in this Report that made Iceland number 1. It seeks to measure important
aspects of gender equality: the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas:
health, education, economy and politics. This rating implies that the situation for women in
Iceland is rather good, in terms of 4 above mentioned aspects, especially in comparison to other
countries. On top of this, the female employment rate in Iceland has been rather high for years and
in the last 20 years it´s been fluctuating between 75% - 80%.
The researched region within She Empowers project is in the North of Iceland. We´ve been
investigating local reality in 3 small fishing villages: Dalvik, Olafsfjordur and Siglufjordur located
in the longest fjord of Iceland. Akureyri with its 18.000 inhabitants has been playing an important
role in the research too, as many of the services provided are there.
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Read the full context here
Mapping process
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In each country there was a mapping process of both the context and the good practices in 2014-2015.
Read more about the Icelandic process here.
Good practices
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2 good practices were identified in Iceland:
- Personal Resurrection: This programme was chosen as an example of good practice, as it not only makes a difference for women themselves, by increasing their well-being, but also makes a difference in the families and whole communities. The success of the programme lies in both short- and long-term effects demonstrated by increased physical, mental and social well-being.
Read more about this good practice here
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- Creating own job/company: This example shows how an unemployed person can progressively become independent from social benefits and create his/her own work. In other words, it is a powerful example of how much personal contact with the people working within the support system helps tailor-make the service available in the best way for the benefit of both sides.
Read more about this good practice here
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- International women's coffee:Once per month on a Saturday, two hours of meeting or visits with and for immigrant women assisted by a few local women representing Zonta International.
Read more about this good practice here
This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This website reflects the views only of the authors and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.