Nominate a candidate for the next International Gender Equality Prize
The call for proposals for the Finnish Government’s International Gender Equality Prize is now open to the public. The prize, which will be awarded for the second time in autumn 2019, can go to a person or organisation working to promote gender equality in an internationally significant way. The award sum for the next prize has been increased to EUR 300,000.
“Gender equality is a core value of Finnish society. Finland would be a very different country if women and girls had not participated in creating the welfare society. With this prize, we aim to advance equality on the international stage by raising discussion about equality and highlighting important related themes, such as violence against women,” says Prime Minister Juha Sipilä.
“I hope we will receive a lot of good proposals for the next prize recipient from around the world.”
The prize, established in 2017 in honour of the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence, was first awarded to Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, whose life’s work has made her one of the world’s most influential people and an example to many women and girls.
The prize includes a sum of EUR 300,000, which is intended not for the recipients themselves, but is rather directed to a cause that advances gender equality. Chancellor Merkel granted her prize money (EUR 150,000 in 2017) to an NGO working to promote the rights of women and children in Niger. The organisation, SOS Femmes et Enfants Victimes de Violence Familiale, is using the prize money to build a residential shelter for victims of domestic violence in the Nigerien capital of Niamey.
The Government of Finland awards the prize based on the suggestion of an international jury. The members of the jury for 2019 are Pekka Haavisto (chair), Member of Parliament, Eva Biaudet, President of the National Council of Women of Finland, Katja Iversen, President and CEO of Women Deliver, Anneli Jätteenmäki, Member of the European Parliament and first female Prime Minister of Finland, and Dean Peacock, co-founder and Co-Executive Director of South African NGO Sonke Gender Justice.
The International Gender Equality Prize is awarded once every two years in cooperation with the City of Tampere. The next prize will be awarded in autumn 2019.
You can nominate a candidate on the prize website until 31 December 2018 at www.genderequalityprize.fi. The nomination form must be completed in English.
Inquiries: Riikka Pakarinen, Special Adviser (EU Affairs), tel. +358 40 580 0833, Jorma Korhonen, Senior Adviser for International Affairs, tel. +358 295 160 410, Irina Haltsonen, Communications Specialist, tel. +358 50 597 3744, Prime Minister’s Office
Links:
Press release in German and in French
International Gender Equality Prize website: www.genderequalityprize.fi
Read more: IGEP prize money recipient’s shelter project progressing at a fast pace
