HRC59 - Iceland side event - Keynote by H.E. Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir

Human Rights Council - 59th Session

Side event: The Power of Women’s Movements: Solidarity for Justice

Room XXIV, Palais des Nations 

Keynote delivered by H.E. Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir, Minister of Justice
June 2025

Excellencies

Dear friends,

I thank you all for joining us here today to focus on the power of women grassroots movements.

I represent a country that has been blessed by a steady progress in terms of gender equality and is currently led by women on most fronts.

Iceland also continues to lead the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum, ranking number one for sixteen consecutive years, and remains the only country to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap since 2022. Yet, full gender equality has not been reached.

But let me assure you that this did not come about as the result of grand strategy of our political leaders of the past.

On the contrary, Iceland’s journey towards ever more gender equality was set in motion by women themselves.

Like for many nations the first half of the last century was marked by a strive for legal recognition, the right to vote and stand in elections, legal equality in terms of property rights and inheritance etc etc. This was followed up by some important examples of representation at the political level but come the seventies, there was growing recognition for a true breakthrough.

Women redoubled their efforts at the grassroots level as demonstrated by the Red Stockings established around that time.

Then one morning in the fall of 1975, the women of Iceland left their work and their homes refusing to work, cook, or take care of the children and the elderly, bringing the country to a standstill and demonstrating the driving force of women’s unpaid care and support in keeping the country running.

It is generally held that some 90% of women in Iceland took that day off and it turned out to be a pivotal point on Iceland’s path towards ever increasing gender equality.

Shortly after Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, a single mother, was elected by the general public to become the world’s first democratically elected female head of state in 1980.

This was then followed by grassroots organisations of women that offered women only lists in some local elections the year after and in the parliamentary elections two years later.

The successful bid of women for the parliament in 1983 led to a four fold  increase of women parlimentarians in one and a half decade. Women lists in elections lasted for close to two decades and were possibly the major incentive for the other political parties to change their old habits and go for truly representative representation.

Within a decede of the Women’s Strike in 1975 we saw revolutionary advances in gender equality in Iceland. There was no grand strategy of the ruling powers of that time to make that happen, on the contrary, it was organisation of women at the grassroots level that brought that about.

It was only after, that we as a society started to reap the benefits thereof, when it became grand strategy, and I dare to say that all serious politicians in Iceland are now highly committed to the central importance of gender equality.

And of course they should be, along with increased gender equality, we have seen improved standings on most if not all comparative listings of nations.

So we are strong believers in the might of women to improve the lives of all. It is not only our own experiences that have convinced us, but also the countless examples around the world of the power of women’s movements.

We are pleased to share with you an extract from a documentary about the day that Iceland stood still. I hope you will enjoy a glimpse of Iceland in the seventies before we hear about examples from different parts of the world on how bottom up engagement of women can make all of our lives better.

I thank you.