# First announcement and call for contributions

(Free for distribution)

# Taking Wing - Conference on Gender Equality and Women in the Arctic

**Time** 4 -- 6 August, 2002

**Place** Saariselkä, Inari, Finland

# Organisers

The Arctic Council, Nordic Council of Ministers and Finland as the host

country

# Background

The economic, environmental, political and cultural changes of the
Arctic

societies have had a strong impact on the economic and cultural
positions of

women and men. However, questions of energy, economy and the

environment tend to dominate the political visions concerning the Arctic

area. The everyday life of women is mostly missing in this context. It
is

important to bring gender considerations onto the agenda and into

mainstream policies.

# Goals of the conference

There is a need to raise awareness on the situation of women in the
Arctic

and to give voice to women to express their experiences, views and
interests

regarding future action. The conference offers a forum for discussion
and

contacts and aims to develop ideas and proposals for further action to
be

taken by the Arctic Council and other relevant institutions.

# 

# Crosscutting themes 

> The conference is about women and gender in the Arctic so that the
> issues brought to debate should be considered from an arctic
> viewpoint, as well as from the viewpoint of indigenous women and
> indigenous people where appropriate. Social, economic and cultural
> change is a further crosscutting theme of the conference.

# 

# Themes of the conference

1.  **Women and work in the Arctic**

> This theme may cover various important issues for women in the arctic
> economies such as living conditions and occupations, capacity building
> and knowledge, women as entrepreneurs, women and the public sector,
> tourism/ ecotourism, land rights, and the use of natural resources as
> an economic base.

######### 2. Human rights in the Arctic from a gender perspective

######### There are two main areas to this theme. First, gender in the self-determination of indigenous people, and second, violence against women and trafficking in women. 

######### 

######### Gender in self-determination can cover themes such as leadership in the communities, empowerment, gender roles in the governance of indigenous institutions, legislative practices, and traditional knowledge. 

#### The context of violence against women may include issues such as the need to break the silence around violence, impacts of violence on social wellbeing and health, experiences of the service systems in crisis management, and trafficking in women and prostitution.

# Participants

#  Maximum 200 participants from the following groups:

Arctic Council Member States, Permanent Participants and Observers

Indigenous people's organisations

NGOs, especially women's NGOs

Representatives of national and regional governments

Researchers

Representatives from other national and international organisations

# The Arctic Council 

The Arctic Council, established in 1996, is a high-level
intergovernmental

forum that provides a mechanism to address the common concerns and

challenges faced by the Arctic governments and people in the Arctic. The

Council has eight members states: the five Nordic countries, Canada, the

Russian Federation and the United States. Six organisations representing

indigenous peoples take part in the work of the Council with a status of

Permanent Participants. Moreover, the Council has several Observers:
states,

international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

One of the aims of Arctic Council is to promote sustainable development
in the

Arctic region, including economic and social development, improved
health

conditions and cultural well-being, with the full involvement of the
Arctic

indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants. Advancement of the

position of women and gender equality should be considered an important

part of the overall goal. The Finnish Government launched the initiative
of

organising the first Arctic women's conference during the Finnish
presidency

of the Arctic Council.

# 

**Languages**

Simultaneous interpretation to and from English and Russian

# Working methods

Plenary and workshops

# Call for contribution and timetable

The organisers especially wish to encourage papers that address one of
the

above themes or problems from the point of view of awareness raising
about

women's situation, needs, visions as well as practical results. See
"Goals of

the conference" above. What kind of political action is needed to solve
the

problem? What is your recommendation to the Arctic Council and other

actors?

Other kinds of contributions are also welcomed, e.g. videos, appeals,
works

of art, as these can be put on display during the conference.

The final programme of the conference will be decided by the reference
group.

Please submit an abstract or a description of your contribution of

approximately 300 words to the conference co-ordinator by 15 February
2002.

Do not forget to include your full contact information.

Please see the Arctic Council web-site for updates on the programme

http://www.arctic-council.org/

# Contact

Because of limited participation, people interested in the conference
are

encouraged to contact the conference co-ordinator as well as their
country's

representative in the reference group. The conference co-ordinator and

members of the reference group will also answer any further questions

concerning the conference. Further information can also be found at the
Arctic

Council web-site http://www.arctic-council.org

Laura Tohka

Conference Co-ordinator

Department of Women's Studies

FIN-33014 University of Tampere

Finland

e-mail: laura.tohka@uta.fi

tel. +358-3-215 8982, fax. +358-3-215 6562

# Reference Group Members

Finland Leila Räsänen, chair

Minsterial Adviser

Ministry for Social Affairs and Health

Gender Equality Unit

PO Box 33

FIN-00023 Government, Finland

<Leila.rasanen@stm.vn.fi>

AC Secretariat, Finland

Johanna Lammi

Executive secretary

Ministry for Foreign Affairs

PO Box 176

FIN-00161 Helsinki, Finland

<Johanna.lammi@formin.fi>

Nordic Council of Ministers

Carita Peltonen

Nordiska ministerrådet

Store Strandstræde 18

> DK-1255 København K, Danmark
>
> Error: Reference source not found

Sweden Britt-Marie Lugnet-Häggberg

Equality Expert

Länsstyrelsen i Norrbottens län

> S-971 86 Luleå, Sverige\
> Error: Reference source not found

Norway Mari Grut

Administrative Counsellor

Kvinneuniversitetet Nord

N-8286 Nordfold, Norge

<Mari.grut@kun.nl.no>

Denmark Tove Søvndahl Petersen

> Grønlands Hjemmestyre\
> Danmark Office\
> P.O.Box 2151\
> DK-1016 Copenhagen, Danmark

<journal@ghsdk.dk>

Iceland Ms. Valgerður Bjarnadottir

Director

> Jafnréttisstofa / Centre for Gender Equality\
> Hvannavellir 14, 600 Akureyri, Ísland

Error: Reference source not found

USA Beatrice Soila

Economic Officer

U.S. Embassy Helsinki

Itäinen puistotie 14 B

FIN-00140 Helsinki, Finland

<Soilab@state.gov>

Karen Pearson

Pearson_karen@health.state.ak.us

Sarah Barton

<sbarton@risegroup.com>

Canada Valerie Hume

A/Chief

DIAND

Department of Indian Affairs and Northern

Development

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H4

[Humev@inac.gc.ca](mailto:Hume@inac.gc.ca)

Russian Vera Smorchkova

Federation Head of Section

Ministry of the Federation

National and Migration Policy

<Masakova@int.federation.ru>

<Chsn@dol.ru>

RAIPON Fenia Lekhanova

RAIPON

Prospect Vernadskogo 37, corp. 2, 527

117415 Moscow, Russia

<raipon@online.ru>

Saami Council

Jorunn Eikjok

Hannomaras 8

N-9520 Kautokeino, Norge

<Jorunn.eikjok@samiskhs.no>