In our Finnish twin city, the winners of the International Equality Award 2019 were announced on 2 December. “Equality Now” was awarded the prize for their work over the past 25 years. The organisation is committed to abolishing laws that discriminate against women and creating laws that prohibit female genital mutilation and child marriages. The prize, which is awarded every two years by the Finnish government in cooperation with UN Women and the city of Tampere, was first awarded in 2017: to Angela Merkel. For the city of Chemnitz, the equal opportunities representative Pia Hamann and the EU coordinator Pia Sachs as well as Eva Gräfer from the application office “Chemnitz2025” attended the award ceremony in the twin city. “In Finland, there is much more at stake than in our country, a conscious orientation of politics and administrative action towards gender justice at all levels. This clear focus would be desirable, especially from the point of view of the Equal Opportunities Officer,” sums up Pia Hamann, who also made contacts during the trip for the Equal Opportunities Symposium of the City of Chemnitz on Women’s Day 2020.

For the Chemnitz delegation, the second day was also dedicated to equality. Tampere has a long tradition of equality for women and Finland was the first country in Europe to introduce full women’s suffrage in 1906. That is why the subject of equality also forms the framework for the city of Tampere’s application for the title of “European Capital of Culture”. Tampere 2026 hosted a conference day on the theme “Hän – Equality, Culture and Women”. Among other things, the results of the so-called structured dialogue on equality of the Voices of Culture initiative between the European Commission and the European cultural sector were presented. In addition, the Chemnitz delegation met with artists from our Finnish twin city and the Tampere 2026 team to discuss cooperation possibilities in the course of the two cities’ candidatures for the title of European Capital of Culture.