Government approves action plan to combat racism and promote equality
On 5 September, the Government adopted a resolution on an action plan for combating racism and promoting equality. The action plan elaborates on the statement on promoting equality, gender equality and non-discrimination in Finnish society, which the Government submitted to Parliament on 31 August 2023.
The action plan consists of 62 measures to improve the social climate and relations between population groups, increase awareness of equality issues and combat racism and discrimination, especially in working life and education. Resources are also allocated to strengthening and expanding tried and tested practices.
The action plan has four key objectives:
- Dismantling social structures in the labour market and elsewhere in society that lead to inequality,
- Fostering good relations between population groups,
- Promoting access to the labour market, and
- Building up the knowledge base on racism.
New initiatives to build momentum for achieving equality
New anti-racism initiatives and additional investments in promoting equality among young people have been selected as cross-cutting priorities in the action plan. The sets of measures in the action plan reflect those laid out in the equality statement.
The Prime Minister will lead annual roundtable discussions on various themes related to promoting equality and non-discrimination.
The “Actions, not only words” anti-racism campaign was launched in August 2024. The campaign, which encourages concrete actions to eradicate racism and promote equality, will be carried out in cooperation with labour market organisations, sports, cultural and civil society organisations and other stakeholders.
As part of the action plan, a series of dialogues will be held with the aim of increasing discussion on racism and its impacts among the entire population. Regional Advisory Boards for Ethnic Relations (ETNOs) will expand their dialogue activities on racism experienced by children and young people and will organise events for decision-makers across Finland to highlight young people’s experiences.
As one measure in the action plan, the Government will launch an equality and non-discrimination programme covering the entire education system that will support and monitor the drafting of statutory equality and non-discrimination plans and ensure they are effective.
A regional pilot project will also be implemented as part of the action plan to support highly educated immigrants in accessing work placement opportunities and jobs corresponding to their competence and in advancing their career paths.
Experts transferred from TE Offices to municipalities will be given training on non-discrimination in employment services, promoting diversity at workplaces and taking into account multiculturalism in recruitment.
Efforts will be made to increase awareness among members of religious minorities of legal remedies related to discrimination and harassment.
The Government will conduct an annual review of the decisions, conclusions and recommendations issued to Finland by international human rights monitoring bodies. Training on various themes related to equality will be provided to the Government’s political leadership and senior public officials. Training on diversity and anonymous recruitment will also be provided to human resources management and experts as part of the action plan.
Organisations and communities to be involved in monitoring and assessing the work
The action plan takes into account the material obtained in the consultations carried out by the Government while preparing the equality statement, as well as the assessment of the ‘An Equal Finland’ Government Action Plan implemented by the previous government and feedback from stakeholders concerning that action plan.
The action plan will be implemented under the leadership of the Prime Minister’s Office together with other ministries and authorities. A cross-sectoral project group appointed by the Government will monitor the work. The progress of the work and the impact of the measures will be assessed during the Government’s mid-term policy review in spring 2025.
Along with central government, this work requires the involvement of local and civil society actors. Civil society organisations and religious communities play a very important role, as they are more closely connected to ethnic and religious minority communities than the authorities are. More support will be provided to civil society organisations in their work to combat racism through calls for government grants, for example.
The annual organisational forum to be set up in connection with the action plan will provide an opportunity for joint discussion on the themes of the action plan and for monitoring and assessing its implementation. A wide range of stakeholders will be invited to take part in the forum, including communities facing racism and discrimination, civil society organisations, representative organisations whose work is related to the topic, key authorities, and actors in working life.
Inquiries: Jouni Varanka, Head of Policy Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Office, tel. +358 295 160 177, firstname.lastname(at)gov.fi and Katriina Nousiainen, Chief Specialist, head of the project to implement the action plan, Strategy Department, Prime Minister’s Office, tel. +358 295 160 735, firstname.lastname(at)gov.fi