ESF Jämt Swedish model for Gender Mainstreaming in ESF projects
ESF Jämt ESF Jämt is the Swedish name of the County Administrative Boards joint investment. It aims at equality, gender equality and Gender Mainstreaming. ESF Jämt is a collaborative project involving all County Administrative Boards in Sweden The support organization consists of one national coordinator and eight project supports in eight regions Gender equality experts in steering group Financed by ESF and expands between the years 2009 until 2012
ESF Jämt background The ESF requires that all projects are Gender Mainstreamed Gender Mainstreaming means to ensure equal services, distribution of resources and influence for women and men ESF Jämt s pre-study showed that there was a general lack of understanding and knowledge regarding Gender Mainstreaming, both in theory as well as in practical implementation within ESF-projects
Project supporters The eight project supporters offers help in Gender Mainstreaming to applicants and granted projects within the Social Fund. Luleå Stockholm Göteborg Malmö
ESF Jämt offers Individual consulting (phone, email and meetings) Training in gender knowledge National seminars and conferences Workshops as well as advanced seminars
Target group ESF Jämt s target group is the ESF-projects key persons and not the participants in the projects. This since Gender Mainstreaming is the responsibility of the project-management Examples of project owners: Employment service, public utility, society, regional organization, county council, extension university, private companies, trade organization etc
Strenghts A quality assured support delivered on the same grounds all over Sweden No quick-fix or recipe book Hands on work with fitted methods according to needs Available to projects during the entire project period from the start until the end, both applicants and granted projects A structural learning between the eight project supporters
Weaknesses and challenges Support is only for the project organization, not for the ESF Managing Authority or the participants in ESF projects The project s supporters work mainly alone which is tiresome. More cooperation between the regions
I believe that one should increase the requirements on the projects; training and education should be submitted before the beginning of the projects. Jag tycker att man ska öka krav på projekten, utbildning ska in innan projekten börjar. Det här skulle vi kunnat innan vi drog igång. Quote from a man who participated in training
Good to be reminded of our own prejudices, it s important to know that you have them! Bra att bli påmind om sina fördomar, viktigt att veta att man bär på sådana! Quote from a woman who participated in training
This training should be mandatory for anyone involved in administrative services in ESF projects Denna utbildning bör bli obligatoriskt för alla som arbetar med administrativa tjänster i ESFprojekt. Quote from a man who participated in training
ESF Jämt s objectives 2009-2011 ESF Jämt support ESF projects with GM implementation within the projects. Individual advice: 50 projects/year and ESF region Training sessions: 10 training sessions/year and region That 95% of the people who are given support are satisfied
Results so far We have achieved our objectives!
Objectives 2012 New objectives 2012: Work closer with fewer projects!
Results Activities Objectives 2009-2011 Objectives 2012 Results Jan-March 2012 Results 2009 march 2012 Individual advice to new projects 1200 200 226 1708 Training sessions and workshops 240 56 60 643 Number of participants (1000 women and 1000 men) 2000 262women 125 men 623 women 313 men 5958 women 3066 men Customer satisfaction index (according to evaluations) 95 % 95% 95% 97%
We have achieved our objectives but is ESF Jämt more attractive to women?
Development in the future Sustainability: The support structure only exists from 2009 to 2012. Implementation by the project owner is necessary to guarantee continuation after the closing of the project Other types of funds, like the Regional Fund, could also benefit from the same kind of support structure
Contact For more information: Katarina Jakobsson Project supporter Tel: +46 (0)54-197093 E-mail: katarina.jakobsson@lansstyrelsen.se