Working with gender mainstreaming in Kalmar

In Kalmar gender mainstreaming means that women and men have the right to claim equal distribution of municipal services, and funding. The municipality has an obligation to secure that the needs of both women and men are met equally.

Kalmar has been working with gender mainstreaming as a strategy since 2003 when the City Council adopted the local gender programme. But the real change came with the 4.2 million SEK from the National Association for Municipalities and Counties. Now the work has been brought into different parts of the organisation.

A plan for gender mainstreaming includes clearly defined areas of responsibility, goals, indicators for follow-ups, activities and time schedu les. A keystone for success is that each administration in the municipality is involved with clearly defined responsibilities. Two other prerequisites for success are increased knowledge regarding gender systems and gender equality, and the use of sex aggregated data.

The managers and politicians have been educated in different programs. One of the most successful has been "EDL" - "Equality: Doing and Learning" owned by the Swedish National Defence College. The other is a special educational program for school principals and vice principals done in cooperation with the University of Linköping. These activities have led to a change, from opinions about gender and equality to knowledge, and also to a demand for equal distribution of municipal services.

Sex aggregated data is being used now. Also, gender analysis of data has been improved and gaps in life conditions between women and men have begun to be identified. The Educational Department in Kalmar is working with indicators for gender equal schools, while the Social Service Department is working with procedures and processes. The Culture and Leisure Department is working with gender in youth centres. It has been mapping activities in both youth centres and at music and cultural schools. In spring 2011 a youth centre will be re-built so that the area suits both girls and boys. The objective is that the youth could choose activities beyond gender traditional choices. Finally, Kalmar city planners have also included gender perspective in their work.