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Good practice Imported

Greenland's Act on Gender Equality and Council of Gender Equality

Greenland · Nuuk · See the Greenland profile · See the Nuuk profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 48% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

In 2011 Greenland's government legislated gender quotas for boards of public and publicly-owned companies; a 2013 Act on Gender Equality followed, creating a Council of Gender Equality. Despite 61% of women holding higher education degrees, women hold only about 38% of management

61 %
Women with higher-education qualifications
38 %
Women in management positions
Greenland's Act on Gender Equality and Council of Gender Equality

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Naalakkersuisut (Government of Greenland) / Council of Gender Equality
Period
2011-2021
Keywords
governance, gender policy, corporate governance, indigenous rights

Context

Greenland appointed its first Minister of Gender Equality in 2011, the same year it legislated board gender quotas for public-sector bodies and public companies. In 2013 its parliament adopted an Act on Gender Equality, also strengthening harassment protections and establishing a Council of Gender Equality.

Results

61% of women in Greenland hold higher-education qualifications, more than men, yet women hold only around 38% of management positions in the private and public sectors, with men continuing to dominate government, parliament, municipal councils and boardrooms more than a decade after the 2011 quota law.

Conclusions

A comprehensive legal and institutional framework whose measured outcomes have not yet matched its stated ambitions.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Minister of Gender Equality, Council of Gender Equality, Naalakkersuisut (government)

Conditions for success

  • Enforcement of board gender quotas
  • Sustained public information campaigns

Common failure modes

  • Management-position share for women still well below education-attainment share, over a decade after quota legislation

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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