Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country
in Northwest Europe. Denmark proper, which is the southernmost of the
Scandinavian countries,consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443
named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island.
The islands are characterized by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low
elevation and a temperate climate. The southernmost of the Scandinavian nations,
Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the
south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also includes two autonomous territories
in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark has a
total area of 42,924 km2 (16,573 sq mi), and the total area including Greenland
and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 (853,509 sq mi), and a population of 5.8
million in Denmark proper (Statistic Denmark, Dec 2019).
Over the last decade, Denmark has emerged as the world’s most
progressive country in terms of gender equality, by achieving a near-perfect
score in new report released by Equal Measures 2030. Denmark is at the very
front of the pack in terms of gender equality, achieving a score of 89.3 out of
100 in the 2019 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Gender Index released by
Equal Measures 2030. Overall, Europe and North America are the best performing
regions, with an average regional score of 79.1. That is due in
large part to the more advanced economies and greater levels of resources
there. However, the report noted that even leading countries have to address a
number of outstanding issues such as gender-based violence, poverty and women’s
participation in the economy, in order to reach the last mile (Equal measures
2030, 2019).
The top ranking is
because Denmark, unlike many other countries, is a good place to make a career
as a woman, In Denmark there is a good opportunity for women to be in the labor
market because we have kindergartens and nurseries, so mothers do not have to
go home and look after children. Most parts of the world this is not the case
and the further you go away from central Europe the more this becomes a
reality. And while Denmark is still not quite in goal, there is a
"positive mentality" about equality in Denmark. It goes without
saying that
women can have a career and that men must participate well in
childcare. Denmark is among the only 21 out of 129 countries on the list to score
more than 80 points (Fruergaard, Oliver, June 2019). As the chart below shows
Denmark has the highest percentage of working mothers in the world.
The Danish government has, in accordance with the 2030 Agenda,
formulated the Action Plan in light of the need to adapt targets to national
circumstances. The Action Plan is centered on the 5 P’s of prosperity, people,
planet, peace and partnership. For each of these – except partnerships which
are cross cutting – the government has formulated a number of targets (37 in
total). They reflect the government’s wish to prioritize building on existing
positions of strength as well as on areas where improvement is needed. Each
target has one or two national indicators, which are in large part measurable
and quantifiable. The public funding for research is at 1 percent of GDP.
People also strengthen gender equality between boys and girls in education by
reduced gender differences in well-being and grades. According to the Transparency
International rankings, Denmark is among least corrupt countries in the world.
The government already assesses the economic, environmental and
gender consequence of new legislation. As part of the Action Plan the
government will hence-forth also assess the consequences of new legislation and
major initiatives for the SDGs, when considered relevant in a Danish context
and where the impact is significant. The government of Denmark also presents an
annual progress report on the Action Plan to Parliament as well as a
quadrennial status report on the Action Plan to be discussed in Parliament. The
Danish statistical bureau also commits to produce a yearly statistical report
to be sent to the UN as an input to the global progress report (Voluntary
National Review, 2017).
Despite Denmark being
at the top of the world in gender equality, the government has admitted that it
will not achieve the sustainable development goal 2030, but will make every
effort to implement it.
References:
Statistic Denmark, Dec 2019.
Population at the first day of the quarter by region, sex, age (5 years age
groups), ancestry and country of origin. Retrieved from https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1c
Equal measures 2030, 2019.HARNESSING
THE POWER OF DATA FOR GENDER EQUALITY. Retrieved from https://data.em2030.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/EM2030_2019_Global_Report_ENG.pdf
Fruergaard, Oliver, June 2019.Denmark
takes first place in equality - but there is still a long way to go. Retrieved
from https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/danmark-tager-foerstepladsen-i-ligestilling-men-der-er-stadig-lang-vej-endnu
Voluntary National Review,
2017.GOVERNMENT FOLLOW-UP ON THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALSNATIONAL
FOLLOW-UP. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/memberstates/denmark
Denmark is somewhere that I have always thought about, but never really knew much about. Your blog on Denmark is very organized and clearly stated. Your graphs gives us a clear visual of what the text is representing. I applaud your unique and well put together post because it made me want to keep reading. I never realized how gender equality impacted a entire country until reading your post. This makes me want to research and see how gender quality effects other countries and how the world would be if genders would work together more and realize that we are all similar and capable of doing the opposite sex's jobs and tasks just as we are our own.
ReplyDeleteGender equality impacts a country in very specific ways. You post about Denmark is very informative. Gender equality is seen differently in each country and fr a woman Denmark is a great place for opportunity. Denmark shows that it is ahead of others. Denmark is ahead of other countries for gender equality and will continue to. Denmark care to make sure that equality is important.
ReplyDeleteIt is very disturbing to see that there are still countries out there where women are expected to drop their lives and strictly take care of home. I am a strong believer that men and women are equal and can and should do the same things in general. Young girls are having to quit school to help their families, putting their childhood on the back burner when you hardly ever hear of that with boys and men. I hope for justice and progress with this issue in countries that deal with this.
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