The Swedish Embassy, the Swedish Institute and the Dutch Parliament (“Tweede Kamer”) organised the conference which gathered more than 150 guests to listen to thirteen experts speaking on topics ranging from the evolution of gender equality policies during the 20th century to parents trying to combine work and family today. Other topics included men and parenthood, childcare and parental insurance, women’s economic independence and gender discrimination on the labour market. Swedish State Secretary Eva Uddén Sonnegård described the Swedish Government’s labour market policy, after which a representative of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Science and Research spoke about women and talent.
During three parallel mini-sessions, the participants had the opportunity to explore and debate gender equality in-depth. In one of the mini-sessions participants could compare the Dutch charter approach with Norway’s use of quotas. The Swedish Rescue Services held a mini-session explaining the use of action research to create change, and in the third session, one of the Netherlands largest employers gave their perspective on diversity as a business case.
The participants in the conference represented labour market organizations, the business sector, various NGOs, research institutes, networks, media and universities. Participants also included civil servants from both the Swedish and Dutch Governments, Riksdagen (the Swedish Parliament) and the Dutch House of Representatives
All presentations can be found under "Speakers". Photographs from the conference are found under "Related Files".
This conference was the first in a series of three Swedish-Dutch conferences on gender equality.