On the 30 of March 2007 in Tallinn was held the conference launching the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All for Estonia.

The conference was opened by Mr. Jaak Aab, Estonian Minister of Social Affairs and Mr. Toivo Klaar, Head of the European Commission Representation in Estonia. Lecturers on the conference were the representatives of the specialized Ombudsman offices, working on equal opportunities, equality and protection against discrimination in Sweden, Finland and Norway and the Estonian Gender Equality Commissioner.

Information on the implementation of the activities planned within the framework of the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All in Estonia was presented by Kadi Viik, Head of the Gender Equality Department at the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs, which is the national coordinator for the implementation of the activities during the year. She explained that the national action plan of Estonia has been drafted after consultations and in cooperation with the nongovernmental sector, working on gender equality and equal opportunities for all and minorities and with the social partners. More about the planned activities: Estonia_2007.pdf (1.14 Mb)

On the conference launching the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All in Estonia, held on 30 of March 2007 were presented the representatives of the of the specialized Ombudsman offices, working on equal opportunities, equality and protection against discrimination in Sweden, Finland and Norway and the Estonian Gender Equality Commissioner.

During the discussion panel of the conference the Nordic Ombudsmen’s representatives underlined that gathering of statistics and conducting of surveys on gender equality are of the high importance for determining precisely the areas of inequalities. The role of the Ombudsmen is to monitor the status of gender equality and use the activeness, the expertise and the collaboration of the NGOs and social partners. Another important step for introducing gender mainstreaming at national level is to train the governmental representatives and administration to apply gender mainstreaming, gender budgeting and gender analysis. Special emphasize should be put on local governments which are the main employers and service providers at local level.  They should be trained in identifying gender equality problems and take them into consideration in elaborating the local development plans and budgets.

People who take decision should be aware and equipped for advocating for gender equality was the main outcome of the Nordic Ombudsmen expressed as a conclusion of the conference.

Also see: Institutional Machineries on Gender Equality and Court Practice on the Protection against Sex Discrimination in Estonia, Sweden, Finland and Norway