In 2013 Norway is celebrating the Centenary of Women’s Suffrage

The anniversary is celebrated throughout the year with a series of events nationwide. The final event will be a large international conference in Oslo, focusing on the importance of women’s political rights in relation to matters of international peace, security and sustainable development. The conference aims to look back in time as well as ahead to the future on how to involve new generations of women.

On 11 June 2013 it was 100 years since Norwegian women gained the right to vote and Norway became a true democracy. Norway was the first independent country in the world to introduce universal suffrage, with women and men enjoying equal democratic rights. The Government wants Norway to celebrate this centenary locally, nationally and internationally, so the suffrage centenary committee was asked to organise large-scale national events as well as to facilitate local and international activities. The committee was appointed in 2009 and is chaired by Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl, Norway’s first female President of the Storting (1993­–2001) and a former government minister. She is currently the Governor of Buskerud County.
The suffrage centenary in 2013

The Government wishes to celebrate the suffrage centenary with events throughout the country. The centenary committee, which has met regularly since early 2010, is responsible for the Government’s official centenary celebration programme. One of the aims has been to encourage others – whether institutions, organisations, clubs, associations, local and national authorities, groups or individuals – to contribute to the forthcoming celebrations.

The committee’s goal is to ensure that the centenary is marked in a way that fosters engagement and generates support for important democratic principles, such as the right to vote, gender equality, participation and representation. The celebrations in 2013 will highlight the importance of 1913 in Norway’s history as well as democratic developments of the past century. The celebrations will also look to the future, examining what can be done to safeguard and enhance our democracy.

Events in 2013

International Women’s Day 2013

The committee will arrange a large-scale national event, designed to have broad appeal, on 8 March. The committee hopes the day will be celebrated all over the country in many different ways, and that relevant topics will be spotlighted at the local, national and international levels. Local authorities are being asked to facilitate the centenary celebrations.

Women’s suffrage week in Norway, 11–20 June 2013

On 11 June 1913, the Storting voted unanimously in favour of universal suffrage. Gina Krog’s birthday was 20 June (see the Norwegian-language website on four key women singled out in connection with the women’s suffrage centenary). The committee hopes that local and regional actors will help organise events across the country. Themes may be historical or linked to important democratic principles such as the right to vote, gender equality, participation and representation.

Focus on democracy in the run-up to the 2013 general election

The suffrage centenary committee wishes to raise awareness and foster commitment to the right to vote, with a view to ensuring that as many people as possible go to the polls in the 2013 election – both first-time voters and all others who are entitled to vote. Election Day is 9 September.

International Conference: Women, Power and Politics – The Road to Sustainable Democracy, 14 - 15 November 2013, Oslo
The committee wishes to organise a major international conference with the aim of gathering political leaders and human rights defenders from all over the world. The intention is to put women’s political rights and international efforts to promote gender equality on the global agenda. The conference will have a clear international profile, and it is hoped that there will be participants from a wide range of countries.
More information:
www.fokuskvinner.no/en/Frontpage-EN/Conferences/Stemmerettsjubileet

More information
www.stemmerettsjubileet.no/in-english

Photo:
www.amb-norwegia.pl/news_and_events/komunikaty/Stulecie-prawa-wyborczego...